Seton Hall University
Connecticut
Pirates Halted By Huskies
1/27/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
STORRS, CONN. – The Seton Hall women’s swimming & diving team was back in the pool for the second time in as many days on Sunday afternoon as the Pirates fell, 166-108, to BIG EAST foe Connecticut in their final head-to-head meet of the season.
The SHU women now hold a 7-2 record to this point in the year.
After returning to competition for the first time in two months in Saturday’s “Senior Day” matchup with Marist, SHU boarded a bus just a few hours later to head to Storrs to take part in their second meet of the weekend.
Junior Kerrie Kolackovsky (Franklin Square, N.Y.) again led the way for The Hall, collecting two more victories to increase her season total to 16. Kolackovsky started her individual program by out-pacing the field in the 100-yard breaststroke, capturing her third win in the event this season. She then closed the day by edging UConn’s Rachel Burke to record the fastest 200-IM time of the meet (2:10.12).
In between her first-place performances, the Franklin Square native placed second in the 200-breast, finishing less than two-tenths of a second off the lead. With five wins and six top-two finishes this weekend, Kolackovsky has now finished as a winner or runner-up in all the events she has entered in dual meet competition and has placed among the top-two in 18 of 21 races that have counted towards the team score this season.
Freshman Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) also continued to display her prowess in the breaststroke, finishing third in the 100 and fourth in the 200 to follow Kolackovsky for SHU in each event. So far in her debut campaign, Mallon has racked up eight top-three finishes, highlighted by three wins.
Another first-year team member that has impressed during her first few months of action is Gabi Levine (Garwood,N.J.). Levine outclassed the 100-yard butterfly field for the second consecutive day, picking up her fourth win of the season. She also recorded a top-three time in the 50-free, finishing third, right behind teammate Alie Zelenky (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) who led Seton Hall in the event for the seventh time in eight competitions this season.
After emerging victorious in the 100-yard backstroke in her final home meet as a Pirate on Saturday, senior Andrea Shuba (Pittsburgh, Pa.) followed up with another first-place performance against the Huskies, this time in the 200-back. Shuba clocked in at 2:10.02, taking the top spot by just five-hundredths of a second in a hotly-contested event. With the win, she paced a trio of Pirates in the top-five as freshman Cora Meehan (Noblesville, Ind.) placed fourth, followed by classmate Alexa Santis (Ijamsville, Md.) in fifth.
Shuba also turned in a noteworthy performance the 100-back, leading SHU with a third place mark of 1:01.22 for her 14th top-three finish of the year. Freshman Kelly Miller (State College, Pa.) reached the wall in fifth to round out scoring in the event.
For the second straight day, junior Jane Ehret (Florida, N.Y.) was a runner-up in the 200-yard butterfly, recording a time of 2:11.02 that was a team-best for the day. She currently stands among the team leaders with nine top-three’s and five wins in 2012-13. Senior Brenna O'Keefe (Hyde Park, N.Y.) posted a fifth-place finish in the event, one of two top-five efforts for her on Sunday.
From the diving board, freshman Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) set a personal record for the second straight day, posting a career-high score of 251.33 from three-meters and finishing in third place. She later went on to take third from one-meter as well.
The Pirates will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Lewisburg, Pa. to take part in the Bison Invitational, hosted by Bucknell University. A 10:00 a.m. start is set for the day-long event on Saturday, February 2.
