Seton Hall University
Patriot Invitational Day One
Pirates Keep Pace on Day One at Patriot
11/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 21, 2013
FAIRFAX, VA. - The Seton Hall women's swimming & diving team put the rest of the BIG EAST on notice with their performance on day one at the 2013 Patriot Invitational, turning in times that rank in the top-two in the conference to this point in the season in all five swimming events on Thursday's program.
Senior Kerrie Kolackovsky (Franklin Square, N.Y.) was the top individual finisher for the Pirates on the day, combining with BIG EAST swimmer of the Week Melody Bush (Guelph, Ontario) to give SHU two finalists in the 200-yard individual medley.
Kolackovsky and Bush ranked fifth and eighth respectively after the preliminary round. In the night session, Kolackovsky dropped two seconds off her morning time to finish as the runner-up with a 2:05.03 mark that was more than three seconds faster than the league's fastest time entering the day and within one of her own school record in the event (2:04.06).
Bush placed seventh in the final and her morning time of 2:07.62 also outpaced the previous BIG EAST standard of 2:08.56 set by Jessica Randolph of Villanova earlier this season.
Kolackovsky also registered a finals appearance in the 50-free, placing fifth in both preliminaries and the championship. Her second swim time of 23.96 was just .13 seconds off the current conference-leading mark and also just slightly over .2 seconds off Jessica Socha's school record of 23.73 that has stood for a decade.
Gabi Levine (Garwood, N.J.) also earned a second swim in the event after placing 18th among 69 swimmers in preliminaries, ultimately finishing 22nd.
Seton Hall also had two swimmers earn a second trip to the blocks in the 500-free as sophomores Cora Meehan (Noblesville, Ind.) and Rae Congdon (Ottawa, Ontario) ranked in the top-20 after the morning session.
Meehan barely missed out on a spot in the championship, finishing less than .3 seconds outside the top-eight but came back to shave more than three seconds off her initial time to win the consolation final race with a time of 5:06.50. Meehan's finals time currently stands as the second-fastest time in the conference this season.
Congdon also improved by more than three seconds during her second swim, clocking in at 5:08.68 to claim the runner-up spot in the C final and place 18th overall.
Sophomore Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) added a third-place finish in three-meter diving competition, scoring a 234.80 in the final. Teammate Katie Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.) placed seventh, but the SHU duo were two of only three divers that improved upon their preliminary score in the final. The only other diver to do so was event winner Neena Maizels of host George Mason.
In swimming relay competition, the day for The Hall was highlighted by the effort of its 400-medley squad of Bush, Kolackovsky, Tessa Lindner (Sun Prairie, Wisc.) and Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.). With Seton Hall already standing as the class of the conference after turning in a time of 3:59.43 at the Rutgers Quad Meet, Thursday's A squad shot past that mark, recording a 3:52.01 effort that was good enough for fifth overall.
Mallon also joined Levine, Kelsey Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) and Kelly Markwell (Old Bridge, N.J.) on a 200-free relay squad that clocked in at 1:38.92 (10th), improving on the Pirates' season-best time which already ranked second in the league.
After Thursday, the Pirates sit in fourth-place among nine teams with 142 points. George Mason leads with 291 points.
Competition will continue tomorrow and the swimming program for day two will include the 400-IM, 100-fly, 200-free, 100-breast, 100-back and the 200-medley and 800-free relays.
Female divers will compete from the one-meter board.
Live results can be found here and a recap of the day's action will be available on SHUPirates.com
