Panthers claim second place

Notre Dame entered the weekend’s Big East swimming and diving championships favored to win… Notre Dame entered the weekend’s Big East swimming and diving championships favored to win both the men and women’s titles. And despite strong efforts from both Pitt teams, the Fighting Irish did not disappoint, capturing both crowns to wrap up league play.

Pitt’s squads came in second in both competitions. But while the team titles eluded the Panthers, they earned many individual and relay wins. Coach Julian Krug was named Diving Coach of the Year, while Dennis Nemtsanov earned male diver of the year honors.

The women’s team was thought to have an outside shot at the top three, as Notre Dame and Rutgers were projected to hold the top spots, with the third slot up for grabs. But Pitt head coach Chuck Knoles knew his team was better than that.

“The women have worked hard all year,” he said. “We knew we had a great chance. But I don’t think anyone else in the conference expected us to do as well as we did.”

Heading into the final day of competition, the women were tied with Rutgers for second place with 399 points each, but they pulled away on the last day to claim second.

They were led by the strong individual performances of Cynthia Snyder, winner of the 200-yard breaststroke, and Jordan Wallace, who captured the titles in the 50 and 100 freestyle swims.

But blistering swims in the relays — many of which set school records — were what kept the Panthers in contention. The team of Andrea Shoust, Lindsey Tiberio, Kelly Redcay and Wallace captured the 200 medley relay. Redcay and Wallace teamed with Kristin Brown and Kelly O’Hara to take second and set a record in the 200 freestyle relay. They joined Brown and Shoust to get third in the 400 freestyle relay. Their time of three minutes, 24.96 seconds in the 400 broke the oldest standing team record, a mark of 3:25.88 set in 1982. In addition, the 800 freestyle relay team of Brown, Wallace, Kathy Siuda and Kate Butrie set a new top mark by almost five seconds, riding Brown’s school-record opening leg to a third-place finish.

In the diving events, Megan McCandless, Kristin Caiazzo and Colleen Kristobak took third, fourth and fifth on the 3-meter board, while Kristobak finished second in the 1-meter.

As expected, the men’s diving team did its part to keep the Panthers near the top of the standings. Nemtsanov took first in the 3-meter board. Jeremy Stultz, who also won the 1-meter event, took second. Knoles was full of praise for his diver of the year, but also cautioned people not to forget about his stellar freshman.

“Dennis and Jeremy are back-to-back,” he said. “They have to keep looking over their shoulders at one another.”

But the competition isn’t hostile.

“They push one another,” Knoles continued, “and they also motivate the whole team to stay competitive.”

In the swimming portion of the meet, the men were led by Darryl Washington, who won the 50 freestyle. He then teamed with Tommy Bird, Eric Bugby and Jason Miller to win the 200 freestyle relay. Bird went on to claim second in the 100 backstroke, while Miller renewed his rivalry with West Virginia’s Pablo Marmolejo in the 200 butterfly.

Miller and Marmolejo swam neck-and-neck in the butterfly and individual medley events when West Virginia and Pitt faced each other in the regular season, and they showed no signs of letting the aquatic version of the Backyard Brawl disappear at this meet. But it was Marmolejo who took first, beating Miller by nearly 1.5 seconds to take the crown.

The men’s second-place finish ends their run of eight straight Big East championships. But Knoles doesn’t think of it as an entirely bad thing.

“I know for a fact the guys are re-focused,” he said. “It got their attention. They did not want to get second.”

Therefore, he explained, the Panthers will be motivated to work harder and earn back the title next year.