Seton Hall University
Rutgers/Georgetown/Villanova
WS&D Starts Fast at Rutgers
11/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 9, 2013
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Seton Hall women's swimming & diving team delivered a strong performance on day one of its most competitive meet to this point in the season as the Pirates came away with the top BIG EAST finisher in five out of 10 events on Friday during a quad meet with conference foes Georgetown and Villanova as well as hosts Rutgers.
The Hall had four individuals place atop all BIG EAST competition in their respective events as senior Kerrie Kolackovsky (Franklin Square, N.Y.) was joined in accomplishing the feat in the pool by junior Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) and freshman Melody Bush (Guelph, Ontario) while sophomore Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) continued to shine from the diving board.
Signorelli's effort was perhaps the most dominant, as she surpassed her closest conference competitor from another institution by more than 35 points with a six-dive score of 276.85 from the three-meter board. Her stiffest test came from teammate Katie Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.) who scored a 267.55 to give SHU a 1-2 finish among five divers from the league.
Kolackovsky raced past all other BIG EAST swimmers in the 1,000-yard freestyle, posting a time of 10:27.03 that was more than eight seconds faster than Erin Merkle of Villanova who finished next.
Mallon out-touched the Wildcats' Kaisla Kollanus at the wall to claim the top BIG EAST performance by clocking in at 1:08.17. A pair of freshmen in Kelsey Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) and Annie Bucca (New Brunswick, N.J.) also turned in BIG EAST qualifying times in the event.
Bush finished the 100-yard backstroke in 58.22, leading all conference swimmers as well as a quartet of Pirates that included Gabi Levine (Garwood, N.J.) Cora Meehan (Noblesville, Ind.) and Kelly Miller (State College, Pa.) that exceeded BIG EAST qualifying standards.
Bush (24.98) and Levine (25.73) were also the team's top-two finishers in the 50-yard freestyle while Kolackovsky was at the front of another group of four SHU swimmers that bested the qualifying standard in the 200-yard freestyle, joining Katie Adams (Linwood, N.J.), Kate Dwyer (Freehold, N.J.) and Leah Mayer (London, Ontario) in accomplishing the feat.
Freshman Cece Henry (St. Charles, Mo.) clocked the second-fastest time among BIG EAST entrants in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.83) and also led the team in the 200-yard individual medley. Classmate Tessa Lindner (Sun Prairie, Wisc.) also turned in championship qualifying times in both events as well as did Buonaiuto in the individual medley.
The Hall's top 200-free relay team also finished second to Villanova among 10 competing squads from league schools with a 1:39.12 mark.
Competition will continue on Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m.
