The swimming and diving team split its meet against Colgate last Saturday, with the men’s team winning 161-133 and the women’s team losing 179-121.
Senior Peter Kawash swept in the 100-yard (51:30) and 200-yard backstroke (1:55.21) and 200-yard IM (1:55.11). He was also the first leg of the 200-yard medley relay that earned the men’s team another first place.
The final score “was a little closer than we expected,” Kawash said. “I think it made us join together and come together more to make sure we close the meet out.”
Sophomore Avery LeTourneau added to the Maroon and White’s swimming victories with the 100-yard (51.26) and 200-yard butterfly (1:57.54). Senior Kurtis Campbell and sophomore Alex Zoldan also secured firsts in the 1000-yard (9:59.37) and 500-yard freestyle (4:53.05), respectively.
For men’s diving, sophomore Landon Orth took home wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 280.50 and 262.88.
“I didn’t compete nearly as well as I did our first meet,” he said, who broke records in the 1-meter dive against Loyola. “But, I was still relatively happy with it.”
Despite the loss, the women’s team showed strong performances in swimming and diving.
“We’ve been training a lot harder than we usually do, so we went into the meet a lot more tired than we were used to, especially compared to last week,” senior Maggie Ivie said.
Ivie finished first in the 100-yard backstroke (59:56) and second for the 100-yard freestyle (54:12). She was also part of the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relays that both earned the team second in both events.
“I was pretty happy with how I raced,” Ivie said. “I’m trying to go into the season with a better mindset around racing, so I’m trying to focus less on my times and more on how I race my event.”
Sophomore Abigail Bebel also racked in a win for the 200-yard butterfly (2:11.59) and junior Isabella Van Ess placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:24.17) and 200-yard IM (2:12.16).
On the diving board, sophomore Mia Guster placed first in the 3-meter dive (238.35) and third in the 1-meter dive (222.08).
The Leopards will face off against American University, Navy and host Bucknell University on Nov. 9.
“We know the competition is a lot stronger with all three of those schools,” Orth said. “We’re just ready to keep that knowledge in the back of our heads and work as hard as we can in practice while still enjoying ourselves.”
