Knoles, team looking for another Big East title

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at Pitt head to conference championships with… The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at Pitt head to conference championships with one team on their minds — the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Granted, the entire Big East will be at the meet. But Pitt will be in competition primarily with Notre Dame for the league title Feb. 16 to 19 in East Meadow, N.Y.

It won’t be easy. The women face an additional threat from Rutgers. But while head coach Chuck Knoles takes neither of the two schools lightly, he acknowledges that if the women are on top of their game, it will be hard for any team to keep them from first place.

“If the girls have a really good meet, they’ll finish second,” he said. “If they have a great meet, they’ll run Notre Dame.”

The women are led by a quartet of sophomore stars. Lindsey Tiberio is seeded first in the 100-yard breaststroke. In the 100 backstroke, Andrea Shoust will come in as the third seed. Kristin Brown has the third-fastest time of the year in the Big East in the 50 freestyle, while Kathy Siuda holds the top seed in the 400 individual medley and the second seed in the 1650 freestyle. But while the sophomores will lead the way, Knoles explained that nobody can afford to just ride their coattails to victory.

“[We] can’t discount the contributions of anybody,” he said. “We’re going to look for wins from everybody.”

The women are looking to capture the title for the 10th time since Big East championships were first held in 1983.

The men’s side should provide just as much excitement, as the showdown between Notre Dame and Pitt will likely be as competitive as the first matchup.

“[The first meet was] nip and tuck, back and forth,” Knoles explained, adding that the two teams are way ahead of the pack.

The Panthers will be led by their diving team, a group which has done nothing short of dominate the Big East this season. Jeremy Stultz holds the first seed in the one-meter event, followed by Dennis Nemtsanov and Devin Aikins in second and third, respectively. In the three-meter event, Nemtsanov has first, with Stultz and Aikins rounding out the top three.

“We’ll have a huge advantage in diving,” Knoles said. “We’ll have seven divers to their four. But they bring more swimmers.”

He conceded that the numbers may prove to be a problem in the individual events, but he knows there are other ways of getting points.

“We have to come through in relays,” he said.

The swimmers’ only top seed is freshman sensation Chris George in the 1,650 freestyle. But others have multiple chances at scoring big for the Panthers. Darryl Washington is third in the 50 and 200 freestyles, and second in the 100. He also has the eighth seed in the 100 breaststroke. Jason Miller has a similarly large chance, as he holds top-three times in the 200 butterfly, 200 IM, a fourth seed in the 100 butterfly and the seventh seed in the 100 freestyle.

Pitt currently has 19 Big East titles, more than any other team in any other sport in the conference. They look to make it nine in a row with a win this weekend. But the main difference between this year and years past is that the Panthers enter this meet as underdogs, a feeling which is quite uncommon for a team usually picked to run away with the title. However, Knoles is not downcast about the predictions that Pitt may not get first place. In fact, his emotions are quite the opposite.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “I’d rather win having to fight for it.”

And Knoles’ athletes have the right mindset for the showdown. He said that they have worked hard in preparing for the championship.

“The kids believe in themselves,” he said. “We just need everyone to give their all, and then some.”