Men’s swimming defeats No. 15-ranked Texas A’M

As the snow fell this weekend, it was hot inside Trees Hall, where the swimming and diving… As the snow fell this weekend, it was hot inside Trees Hall, where the swimming and diving teams hosted the Pittsburgh Invitational.

Pitt, 2-2 in dual competition, held on to defeat squads from Connecticut, Michigan State and Buffalo. Texas A’M, the fifth team entered in the event was Pitt’s biggest threat. The Aggie men were ranked 15th while the women are 23rd nationally.

“I really have a lot of respect for the Texas A’M program,” Panthers head coach Chuck Knoles said. “They are a great team led by a great coach.”

Pitt’s men’s team defeated the Aggies 1,332-1,264. The women fell to second place, trailing Texas A’M in points, 1,334-981.5.

Michigan State, UConn and Buffalo finished third, fourth and fifth in both competitions.

The Pitt men are currently ranked 22nd in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll.

The Invitational was kicked off Friday night with Pitt winning all 10 of its swimming events.

The Panthers’ women’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Carolyne Savini, Ryan Redman, Jenny Livingstone and Kelly Redcay finished first in a time of 1 minute, 34.40 seconds, topping the team’s best by nearly five seconds.

The men followed suit in the event, as Tommy Bird, Darryl Washington, Adam Webber and Mike Grube finished first in a season best time of 1:21.46.

Emily Colley and Nicole Ebert finished first and second respectively in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. Eric Limkemann won this event for the men finishing in 4:29.47.

The men’s team dominated the 200-yard individual medley and Ken Shelhorse finished first in a time of 1:50.98.

Savini got her second first place finish in the event for the women as she finished in 2:03.97.

Michigan State’s Rachael Hagerman tied Redcay for first in the women’s 50-yard freestyle. Hagerman came on strong in the finish to touch the wall simultaneously with Redcay in 23.69 seconds.

The Pitt men easily won this event with six of the top 10 finishers. Grube came in first in just more than 20 seconds.

Friday night concluded with the diving competitions where Pitt was overmatched. Husky Melissa Kull outscored all opponents with 258.9 points in the women’s 1-meter match while Texas A’M’s Christian Picard scored 515.2 points on the men’s 3-meter board.

The second day of competition saw the Panthers breaking school and pool records, as the men remained in the lead despite the Aggies’ six first place finishes.

Tielking broke a school record, winning the 100-yard butterfly in 55.06 seconds. Amy Jackson set the previous mark of 55.53 seconds in 1982.

Tielking was also involved in the second record setting event. Along with Redcay, Redman and Livingstone, they broke a Trees Hall record by winning the women’s 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:43.20.

Texas A’M narrowed the gap, as Picard won his second diving match, finishing just ahead of Pitt’s Matthew Schwartz. UConn’s Kull also won her second competition, finishing with 438.35 points.

Pitt finally regained a first place finish with Tielking winning the 100-yard butterfly. Miller finished behind the Aggies’ Matt Rose in the men’s event.

Grube won the men’s 200-yard freestyle in 1:38.94, the team’s best time of the season.

The Panthers remained quiet the rest of the evening with no more first place finishes.

The final stretch of the Invitational saw the Texas A’M women winning four of the six events held on the closing day of the meet.

The Aggies’ women began by defeating the Panthers in the 1650-yard freestyle event. However, Limkemann and Hannes Kohnke placed first and second for Pitt.

The Aggies’ most dominant event of the day was the 200-yard backstroke, as the women finished first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth in the event. The Panthers’ Shelhorse won the men’s event by more than four seconds.

Pitt saw another record broken in the women’s 200-yard butterfly. Koch, who finished second, topped Jackson’s time, finishing in 2:2.76.

Miller came in first in the butterfly, capturing his personal best time in a 1:50.12.

The final event of the Invitational, the 400-yard freestyle relay was down to the wire for the women as Texas A’M squeaked by the Panthers by only four tenths of a second.

The men’s team of Washington, Brush, Grube and Webber won the event and also broke the three-minute mark for the first time this season.

“The team works hard and having them beat a nationally ranked team is very rewarding,” Knoles said. “The rest of the season will be exciting.”

The Pitt women will be in action again on Dec. 7 against Notre Dame.