Women's Swim & Dive Closes Fall at Patriot Invite
11/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 20, 2013
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall women's swimming & diving team is set to wrap up a fall schedule that included seven competitions in a little over a month as the Pirates will take on eight other squads as part of the Patriot Invitational in their final appearance prior to the winter break.
SHU is coming off a convincing win over Iona last week that was the team's fourth in as many dual meets to this point in the season.
Against the Gaels, The Hall took the top spot in 12 out of 16 events as eight different individuals added first place times to their ledger. The Pirates have not finished any dual meet this fall with less than 11 first-place efforts as exceptional performances have been coming from up and down the expanded roster.
The Patriot Invitational features a championship-like atmosphere and is a meet that always serves as a litmus test for the team heading into the latter stages of the year.
In two consecutive dual meets, senior Kerrie Kolackovsky (Franklin Square, N.Y.) has posted three first-place times as part of one of the strongest falls of her illustrious career. Kolackovsky, who currently holds six Seton Hall records, enters the Patriot seeded #1 in the BIG EAST in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, second in the 50-free, 200-IM and 400-IM and in the top-five in the league in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle.
Kolackovsky is seeded in the top-six of four events at the Patriot Invitational, including third in the 200-breast.
Recently crowned BIG EAST Swimmer of the Week Melody Bush (Guelph, Ontario) is the other Pirate who stands as the league leader in a championship swimming event; boasting the fastest 100 and 200-back times in the conference. Bush recorded those times at a quad meet that included Georgetown and Villanova as she was the top BIG EAST finisher in both events; a fitting follow up to a season-opening run of eight swims in which she collected seven first-place times.
Fellow freshman Cece Henry (St. Charles, Mo.) has put up her share of victories as well during the first few weeks of her collegiate career and ranks among the premier performers in the conference in the 200-fly, posting the second-fastest time of all BIG EAST competitors this season with a 2:08.83. Her season-best efforts in the 100-fly, 200-IM and 400-IM also rank among the top-six in the conference.
Sophomore Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) ranks third in the league in the 100-breast and fourth in the 200-breast as a variety of swimmers have proven that there is validity behind the championship aspirations expressed by head coach Ron Farina prior to the season.
Only two Pirates in SHU Athletics Hall of Famer Jennifer Heider-Berenyi and Carla (Stetter) Lenderman have ever captured a BIG EAST Championship but early results indicate that Seton Hall has a chance to return to the top of the podium for the first time since 1994. In all, the Pirates enter this weekend with a top-eight performer in the conference in all 12 of the individual events that will be on the championship program in which they have competed. In 11 of those events, The Hall has at least two swimmers among the top-eight and the team will be taking its first crack at the 1,650-free, the lone remaining swim that will be on the championship program, on Saturday.
Following their performances at the most recent quad meet, the SHU women also sit atop the conference leaderboard in both the 200 and 400-yard medley relay as well.
A steady stream of career-best scores from the diving board has given the team a boost in the early going as well. Senior Katie Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.) and sophomore Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) have simultaneously produced their best seasons, each capturing a number of first and second-place finishes. A pair of scorers from the BIG EAST Championship a year ago; Riley and Signorelli have elevated their performance to the point where they have both qualified to compete in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships for the first time in their careers.
Recently, Signorelli joined senior swimmer Kate Dwyer (Freehold, N.J.) and freshman swimmer Maddie Harris (Ocala, Fla.) in providing perspective as to where the team stands and what kind of work is left to be done in order to achieve champion status at the end of the year.
At the meet which begins tomorrow, Thursday, November 21 and continues over three consecutive days from Fairfax, Va., the Pirates will compete against hosts George Mason, American University, George Washington University, Howard University, University of Richmond, Shippensburg University (Pa.), University of Maryland-Baltimore County and UNC-Wilmington.
Daily updates will be provided on SHUPirates.com and live results can be followed here
