Pitt returns empty-handed from Virginia

Pitt’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Virginia this weekend to compete against… Pitt’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Virginia this weekend to compete against nationally ranked Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia and returned with no new wins on their respective records.

Virginia’s men, ranked 14th nationally, beat the Pitt men, 159-132. The Cavalier women are 15th in the country and beat the Panthers 157-136. Virginia Tech’s women are 22nd, and they beat the Pitt women, 185.5-111.5. The Hokie men are not ranked, but they nonetheless upended the Pitt men, 177-117.

Next weekend the Panthers will finish their regular season at home with a senior recognition meet against Clarion, Denison, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne on Feb. 2 at Trees Pool.

“[We need to] work on making sure we get rest away from the pool so we can be really sharp at [that] meet,” Pitt coach Chuck Knoles said.

Virginia Tech over Pitt

Men 177-117, Women 185.5-111.5

Virginia Tech took an early lead at home in both competitions and held on throughout, handing Pitt two losses, while also breaking five of its own pool records.

The Hokies won 23 of the 32 events, took first and second in 18 events and took the top three spots in 12 events.

“Virginia Tech was obviously very, very ready for us,” Knoles said.

“We weren’t quite as ready as they were.”

The Panthers didn’t see a win until the 10th event, the men’s 100-yard breaststroke, in which junior Adam Plutecki set a pool record.

His mark of 55.49 surpassed Virginia Tech’s Kevin Furlong’s time of 55.75 set in 2005.

Plutecki was a multiple winner Saturday – he also won the 200 individual medley and the 200 breaststroke. Senior Warren Barnes took second in both events, and Jared Martin came in third in the 200 breaststroke, giving Pitt a 1-2-3 finish in that event.

For his performance, Plutecki was chosen as the male Performer of the Meet by his teammates.

The women chose Junior Agnes Mago for Performer of the Meet against Virginia Tech, as she was also a multiple-event winner.

Mago won the 200 butterfly and the 500 freestyle, an event in which she was followed by teammates Katie Cutrell and Sarah Looney, for another 1-2-3 event. Mago was also a part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay along with Stacie Safritt, Megan Sculley and Kristen McMullan.

Freshman Andrzej Dubiel placed in both backstroke events, winning the 200 in 1:52.02 and coming in 2nd in the 100.

“We swam much better against Virginia, but we still weren’t able to get a win,” Knoles said.

Virginia over Pitt

Men, 159-132, Women, 157-136

The Panthers won a number of events on both sides when they took on the Cavaliers, but top performances weren’t enough to win the meet.

“Virginia is just a great team,” Knoles said.

Diver Jeremy Stultz was chosen as the male Performer of the Meet for his win in the 3-meter diving event and second place finish in the 1-meter event.

Three members of the women’s team were chosen for the same honor. Freshman Cookie McIntyre won the 200 individual medley and swam her “lifetime best” in both the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke.

Another freshman, Emily DeStefano, was acknowledged for split times in both relays, and Margot Ekstrom won the 1M diving and made her NCAA zone cut in the 3-meter event.

Barnes was a multiple winner on Sunday, taking both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events. Rounding out the individual winners for the men were Plutecki (200 IM), Volovetski (1M diving) and Geoff Morgan (100 butterfly).

Both sides had winning 200 freestyle relay teams.

Mago, O’Hara, Safritt and Sculley touched the wall first for the women, and Dubiel, Patrick Mansfield, Andrew Burkey and Plutecki came in at 1:24.86 to win for the men.

“We were more closely aligned on where we needed to be at Virginia,” Knoles said.

“We fell a little short. Hopefully we’ll be able to figure it all out.