Swim teams take on Oakland in Oakland

What’s in a name?

The difference is anywhere from 67 to 69 points, depending on who… What’s in a name?

The difference is anywhere from 67 to 69 points, depending on who answers.

Those are the amounts that the Pitt men’s and women’s swimming teams defeated the visiting Oakland University Golden Grizzlies by on Saturday at Trees Pool.

The “Battle of the Oaklands” ended with the Panthers clearly the victors. The women won with a final score of 156-87 while the men’s score totaled 152-85 in favor of Pitt.

Pitt 152, Oakland 85 (men)

The meet began for the men in an event without any competition. The Panthers had six entrants in the 3-meter diving; Oakland had none.

Dennis Nemtsanov, a freshman, won the event with a score of 384.

Pitt moved on to win the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 34:64 seconds. The Golden Grizzlies took second and third.

In the 1,000-yard freestyle, junior co-captain Eric Limkemann and Hannes Kohnke stayed ahead of three Oakland swimmers to place first and second, respectively.

Pitt stumbled from event eight to event 12 as Oakland swimmers won the 200-yard freestyle, the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley.

Notably, in the 50, Oakland swimmer Chris Sullivan defeated Pitt’s record holder, Mike Grube, with a time of 20.38 seconds.

“I didn’t see him there at all,” Grube said, referring to the fact that he was placed in the outside lane, but then asserting that a change in lane placement would not have made any significant difference in the outcome of the race.

The Oakland string of victories ended when freshman Jason Miller won the 100-yard butterfly. Pitt’s Darryl Washington took second place.

In the next men’s event, Grube returned to face Sullivan.

The 100-yard freestyle pitted the two sprinters side by side. Grube edged out Sullivan with a late race come back and seized first place.

“I don’t like losing at all,” Grube said. “My 50’s a little weak but my 100 is my best event all-around.”

In 1-meter diving, Oakland again entered no divers. Nemtsanov secured first place with a score of 341.10.

The Golden Grizzlies made a last-minute surge. Scott Dickens won the 100-yard breaststroke for Oakland and the Panthers took first in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

It was not enough however to stop the Panthers from improving their record to 7-3 (2-1 Big East).

Pitt’s next meet is at home against Virginia on Saturday.

Pitt 156, Oakland 87 (women)

The women’s team began the meet with more visible competition, but ended with nearly an identical result.

Oakland presented three divers to match up with Pitt’s three in the 1-meter diving. Pitt freshman Colleen Kristobak suppressed them though, finishing with a score of 265.57.

The Panthers won the first four events before Oakland retaliated with Oksana Strelets winning the 50-yard free.

Nicole Ebert won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:15:72. She would also later win the 500-yard freestyle.

Co-captain Carolyne Savini won the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 1:53:46.

Considering the fact that Oakland went on to win the 50-yard freestyle, 200-yard IM, 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Panthers were not running away with the meet.

“We, the swimmers, didn’t expect them to be as close as they were,” said Savini, who also won the 100-yard backstroke for Pitt. “They put up a good fight.”

The Panthers collected a number of first place finishes to stop the Golden Grizzlies from reaching a triple-digit score.

In 3-meter diving, Kristobak again took first, scoring 300.22 points.

Pitt’s Cynthia Snyder secured first place in the 100-yard breaststroke and teammate Sarah Grant took second.

Oakland again finished the meet with a victory, winning the 200-yard freestyle relay, but once again didn’t come close to Pitt in total score.

With the win, Pitt’s women evened their record at 5-5 (2-1) and they too take on Virginia this week.

While Oakland at times provided formidable opposition for both the men and the women, Pitt’s focus in the season is clearly on bigger things.

Coach Chuck Knoles described the Golden Grizzlies as “a phenomenal team,” but also commented that they are still “up-and-coming.”

The men are looking to win their seventh Big East Championship this year and Knoles has hopes that the women’s team, which he is coaching this year for the first time, will place as high as second in the conference.