Swimming wins a pair

Before the final swim meet of the season at Trees Pool, the men’s and women’s swimming and… Before the final swim meet of the season at Trees Pool, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams honored the senior class with a recognition ceremony.

During the meet, the teams gave the seniors something to celebrate as both squads cruised to dominant victories over Duquesne and Clarion.

The men’s team blew out the Dukes by a score of 212-51, while defeating the Golden Eagles by a score of 208-63. The women’s squad also turned in an impressive performance, defeating the Dukes 214-72 and then nearly getting to 200 again as they beat Clarion 197-97.

The women’s squad used strong performances from several seniors to seal their big victories. Amy Miteff, who finished second in the 200 free event, later went on to finish first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.58 seconds. Jordan Wallace then captured first in the 100 backstroke. Kelly Redcay led the 200-medley relay to a first-place finish and also finished first in the 50 freestyle.

As the women improved to 9-3 on the season, several swimmers showed why they were a big part of the Panthers’ success this season.

Junior Kristin Brown finished second behind Redcay in the 50 free and then went on to claim first in the 100 free with a time of 51.62 seconds. Another junior, Andrea Shoust, had a very successful afternoon. Shoust won the 200 backstroke event and was also a member of the 200-medley relay team.

Freshman Ruth Seiffert was also on that relay team. She then set a personal best in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:05.75. Seiffert also won the 500 free to help seal the Panthers’ victory.

On the men’s side of the meet, seniors were also a big part of the Panthers’ success.

Tommy Bird and Chad White teamed up with sophomore Warren Barnes and freshman Patrick Mansfield to take first in the 200-medley relay. Bird earned a first-place finish in the 100 fly. The Pitt seniors swept that event as Bird was followed by White and Darryl Washington.

That was the Panthers’ fifth event sweep of the meet, including a streak of three consecutive events: the 200 free, 100 back and the 100 breast.

In the 100 back, Bird once again claimed first – his third of the match – as seniors Michael Bernardi and Jason Miller claimed second and third, respectively. Underclassmen Nathan McCutcheon, Andrew Kyrejko and Chris George swept the 200 free, while Barnes, Dave Montgomery and Jared Martin took the top spots in the 100 breast.

Sophomore David Anderson won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:55.45, while Jeff Leath touched in 1:54.89 to finish second later, and claimed first in the 200 back.

Pitt continued to dominate the meet, sweeping the next four events: the 200 breast, 500 free, 100 fly and the 200-individual medley.

Pitt’s divers had a successful day as well, sweeping the 3-meter boards. Sophomore Jeremy Stultz finished first, followed by freshman Alex Volovetski and senior Adam Natishyn, who finished third in his final meet at Trees.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 9-3 on the season. Both squads will be back in action at the Big East Championships, which will be held in New York from Feb. 15-18.