Seton Hall University
Marist
Pirates Honor Seniors; Fall to MC
1/27/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall women’s swimming & diving team returned to the pool on Saturday afternoon, resuming their 2012-13 schedule after two months of training between competitions.
Despite jumping out to an early lead, SHU had its seven-meet winning-streak snapped as the Pirates fell to Marist, 157.5–142.5.
With the return to competition also came “Senior Day,” as the team recognized four seniors prior to the home finale. In a pre-meet ceremony, Marielle O'Connor (Allentown, Pa.), Brenna O'Keefe (Hyde Park, N.Y.), Andrea Shuba (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Alie Zelenky (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) were honored for their contributions to the program over their respective careers.
When the action began, the SHU women seized early control of the scoreboard with victories in the first five events. Shuba and Zelenky bookended a victorious 200-yard medley relay team that included Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) and Kelly Markwell (Old Bridge, N.J.), starting the day off with a first-place time of 1:49.05.
The next two events belonged to junior Kerrie Kolackovsky (Franklin Square, N.Y.), who captured wins in both the 1,000 and 200-yard freestyles in convincing fashion. In the 1,000, she turned in a time of 10:26.04 that was more than 14 seconds ahead of her closest competitor and stands as the fastest time for any Pirate in the event this season.
She followed that performance by clocking in at 1:53.85 to take first-place points in the 200, pacing a trio of Seton Hall swimmers in the top-five. Freshman Rae Congdon (Ottawa, Ontario) earned third place points and junior Kate Dwyer (Freehold, N.J.) finished fifth to round out a strong effort in the race.
Before day’s end, Kolackovsky pushed her team-leading win total to 14 for the year with a win in the 500-freestyle. For the second time in the meet, she set a new season-best mark in an individual event, posting a time of 5:02.03. O’Keefe, who previously held the Pirates’ top 500-free time of the year, finished fourth with a time of 5:13.56.
Next it was Shuba who kept the winning streak going. In her final home meet, the multi-school record holder fittingly came out on top in the 100-yard backstroke as she has so many times in her career, edging Marist’s Kate Conrad with a time of 1:00.40 for the win. Freshman Cora Meehan (Noblesville, Ind.) was close behind in third (1:01.59).
Accounting for the Pirates’ fifth consecutive win to start the day was the freshman Mallon, who clocked in at a personal-best 1:06.37 in the 100-yard breaststroke, earning her third victory of the season. Sophomore Megan Mostoller (Cheshire, Conn.) and O’Connor followed up with top-five times of their own to add an additional boost for The Hall.
The same three competitors went on to post top-five times in the 200-breast, as Mallon led the Pirates with a second place performance and Mostoller and O’Connor again finished third and fifth respectively.
Following Mallon’s win, Jane Ehret (Florida, N.Y.) just missed adding a sixth-straight event victory, finishing in second less than seven-tenths of a second behind the leader in the 200-yard butterfly. Markwell reached the wall next in third and O’Keefe followed in fourth.
Ehret and Markwell were again involved as Seton Hall managed one more victory on Saturday. Gabi Levine (Garwood, N.J.) emerged as the class of the 100-butterfly field, turning in a time 58.74 for her third win of the year. Markwell made it a 1-2 SHU finish when she touched in at 59.11 and Ehret placed fifth in 1:00.15.
It was the second top-three finish of the meet for Levine, who had led the Pirates with a third-place time of 55.03 in the 100-yard freestyle. Congdon came in next, finishing tied with fellow freshman Katie Adams (Linwood, N.J.) to split the remaining points.
Levine (t-third) and Congdon (fifth) also placed in the top-five in the 50-yard freestyle, an event in which the Pirates were led by the senior Zelenky. The Mechanicsburg native matched her season-best time in a 50-yard freestyle event, placing second in 25.11. The time equals her winning time against Providence and is the fastest she has covered the distance outside of a relay leg.
Other notable performances included a second place showing from Shuba in the 200-back, as she came in just ahead of Meehan in third. The result marked the seventh time this the season that Shuba and Meehan have combined for a pair of top-three finishes in the same race. Freshman Alexa Santis (Ijamsville, Md.) reached the wall in fourth to give SHU a third scorer in the event.
Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) turned in a career day as she led the way for the SHU divers, ranking second in the one-meter dive and placing third from the three-meter board. The freshman, who has already qualified for the BIG EAST Championship in both events, scored a pair of new personal bests as she earned a 237.08 in the one-meter and totaled 249.60 from three-meters.
With their undefeated record on the line, SHU went into the final event, a 400-yard freestyle relay, with a chance to come out on top. Despite a valiant showing that saw the Pirates occupy three of the top-four spots, they were unable to secure the 1-2 finish needed to take the meet.
Aside from a packed house in the Arthur E. Imperattore Natatorium, for the first time ever, Pirate fans could follow the action live on www.wsou.net as live commentary was provided throughout the thrilling competition.
Seton Hall won’t have to wait long to get back in the win column as the Pirates are back in action tomorrow, January 26, when they take on BIG EAST foe Connecticut in Storrs. Start-time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
