Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Sweep Senior Day

Saturday, January 13

Daskalakis Athletic Center

11 a.m.

Drexel University

156.5

136.5

Towson (Senior & Alumni Meet)

Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Sweep Senior Day

1/13/2018 4:01:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

RESULTS

PHILADELPHIA – The Drexel men's and women's swimming and diving teams sent nine seniors out with a bang on Saturday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, as the Dragons swept a tri-meet with Towson and Seton Hall on Senior Day. The men's team defeated Towson 197-100 and Seton Hall 206-91, while the women topped Towson 156.5-136.5 and Seton Hall 188-91.

"I'm really happy with the team's performance today," head coach Adam Braun said. "To walk away from this meet 4-0, on our senior and alumni day is really special. The team should use this as a spring board to finish the season out strong."

Three pool records fell in the meet, with Alexa Kutch accounting for two of those and Kiran Richardson the other. Richardson's was particularly noteworthy, as his 45.10 leg to lead off the victorious 400-free relay smashed a 32-year old pool record for the 100-free, a 45.65 time set by Jim Harvey of Bucknell back in 1986. Kutch broke her own record in the 100-back, winning the event with a 55.01 that was nearly two seconds better than her previous record, 56.75 set last year. She also erased Anna Schegoleva of Northeastern's record in the 200-back when she won that event with a 2:00.68, more than two seconds better than Schegoleva's 2:03.07.

Kutch was part of the 200-yard medley relay team that got the Dragons off to a fast start, winning with a 1:44.60. She led off the relay, with Rudy Gab, Hollie Hopf and Kaitlin Perni following. Richardson anchored the men's version, another Dragons winner of 1:32.38 alongside Jason Arthur, Ralph Cannarozzi III and Stathis Malamas.

Emily Joyce captured the Dragons' first individual triumph of the day with her swim of 10:28.19 in the 1000-yard freestyle. Patrick Cobb kept Drexel on top on the men's side, where he posted a time of 9:32.69. Drexel's Dane Bell also earned a spot on the podium with a 9:43.39, good for third.

Tanja Kirmse, the reigning CAA Women's Swimmer of the Week, kept up her strong spring with a victory in the 200-free, going out at a 1:53.66 clip. A dramatic finish on the men's side saw Drexel's Luke Hanner out-touch Jack Saunderson of Towson with a 1:41.54, just .43 ahead of Saunderson.

Kutch's record swim in the 100-back followed, with teammate Alicia Diaz finishing third in 58.53. Jason Arthur captured the men's 100-back with a 50.68 swim.

Gab Rudy was the next Dragon to notch a victory, pushing out to a 1:04.53 time in the 100-yard breaststroke. That was followed by a dominant performance on the men's side, where Drexel swept the podium positions. The Dragons were led by Joseph Brown's 57.22, with Ralph Cannarozzi III (57.48) and Harrison Schultz (58.66) in hot pursuit.

Towson got its first win of the afternoon in Event 11, breaking the streak of Dragons winners that had lasted the entire day to that point. April Forsthoffer got Drexel third place in the event, though, with a 2:08.15. Seton Hall won the men's event as Drexel was kept off the podium for the first time.

The Dragons rebounded in the mad dash that is the 50-free, where Kaitlin Perni got her first career victory in the event with a 24.70 and Richardson followed with a 20.88 to win the men's side. The women's 100-free went to Kirmse, who swam a 53.07 to edge Annemarie Schnoor of Towson (53.26) and finish atop the leaderboard, two spots ahead of Joyce (53.71) in third place. Richardson and Stathis Malamas went 1-2 for Drexel on the men's side, with Richardson swimming a 45.67 and Malamas a 46.26.

As they had in the 100-back, Kutch and Diaz both reached the podium in the 200-back. Kutch's 2:00.68 set a new standard for the Drexel pool, with Diaz finishing third in 2:05.10. Jason Arthur (1:49.79) also notched his second victory of the afternoon on the men's side, where he was followed by Rhys Kawaguchi (1:54.64) in third place. Brown posted a time of 2:05.40, taking first place while fellow Dragon Zachary Valenzuela finished second in 2:08.15.

Rudy and Brown both got Drexel first-place finishes in the 200-breast, as they had in the 100. Rudy swam a 2:23.06, two spots ahead of teammate Courtney Levins (2:27.34).

The 500-free saw the Dragons go without a victor, though Kirmse (5:04.13) and Joyce (5:08.62) finished second and third on the women's side while Bell (4:44.07) took second on the men's. Charlotte Myers got Drexel back in the win column in the 100-yard butterfly, posting a 58.32. Forsthoffer's 58.93 in that event was good for third. In the men's swim, Alberto Lagrurtta and Spencer Hill finished second and third in the men's 100-fly, swimming a 51.82 and a 51.87, respectively.

The closest event of the afternoon was the women's 200-IM. Gab Rudy and Towson's Sarah Margaret Locke swam identical 2:08.80 times to share first place. Rudy was nearly a full second behind after 100 yards, took the lead briefly late and held on to share the win. Joe Short finished third on the men's side, posting a 1:57.22.

The day was closed out with another pair of Drexel victories, including Richardson's record split in the men's 400-free relay. First came the women, where Joyce, Diaz, Victoria Palochik and Kirmse combined to post a 3:33.89 that edged Towson. Richardson led off the men's victory, followed by Arthur, Cobb, and Malamas for a 3:04.52 time that blew the second-place Seton Hall team (3:09.38) out of the water. Drexel also placed a team in third, where Hanner, Kawaguchi, Andrew Zhugayevich and Bell swam a 3:10.06.

On the boards, Simon Carne swept the two men's diving events. He posted a victory in the 1-meter event, scoring a 264.45, and followed that up with a 276.75 on the 3-meter board. In that event, he was trailed by teammate Joel Keefer (241.05) in second place.

Although Saturday's meet was the final one at home for Drexel's nine seniors – Carne, Ted Dickerson, JT Lumpkin, Liam McLaughlin and Julien Sandjong on the men's side and Joyce, Kirmse, Gillian Gress and Miranda Rouse on the women's – it is not the end of the teams' seasons. Drexel returns to the pool next Saturday when it takes part in a dual meet at Georgetown that begins at 1 p.m.