Seton Hall University
Loyola Maryland
WS&D Stays Perfect with Three Wins at Loyola
10/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
BALTIMORE, MD. - The Seton Hall women's swimming & diving team continued its unbeaten start to the 2014-15 season on Saturday, posting a trio of impressive victories over Drexel, Lafayette, and Loyola (MD) at a quad meet hosted by the Greyhounds.
The Pirates (5-0) eased past the Leopards (199-95) and hosts Loyola (MD) (172-128) while earning a hard-fought 153-146 win over the Dragons.
The 200-yard medley relay squad of Melody Bush (Guelph, Ontario), Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) Gabi Levine (Garwood, N.J.) and Kat Carson (Katy, Texas) helped set the tone for the afternoon, opening the meet by finishing atop a 16-team field with a time of 1:49.67.
The quartet of Kelsey Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.), Sidney Simpson (Tallahassee, Fla.), Tessa Lindner (Sun Prairie, Wisc.) and Isabelle Alario (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) wasn't far behind, taking third place in 1:52.79.
Bush and Lindner also added event victories in the pool while junior Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) added a first-place effort from the diving board.
In the 200-IM, Bush took top honors by reaching the wall in 2:10.32, more than a second ahead of runner-up Emily Joyce of Drexel. It was the second win of the day for the All-BIG EAST performer as the sophomore also out-paced the 100-back field, finishing as the only competitor to break the one-minute mark (58.63).
Bush nearly added another victorious effort in the 200-back, placing behind only Drexel's Gillian Gress with a final mark of 2:06.91. Buonaiuto collected fifth-place points in the event by clocking in at 2:12.79.
Lindner's first-place showing came in the 200-fly where she out-touched the Dragons' Emily Joyce and registered a time of 2:12.94. Classmate Cece Henry (St. Charles, Mo.) added a third-place effort, reaching the wall in 2:13.81.
Signorelli finished the day as one of the top performers in diving competition, besting 10 other competitors from the one-meter board and collecting a runner-up finish at three meters. The junior earned a score of 244.40 at one meter to add yet another event win to her growing total while taking second in three meter competition by more than 30 points over the third-place finisher.
Four different Pirates also contributed runner-up performances in the extended field, helping to solidify the squad's dominant position on the team scoreboard.
Leading a Seton Hall duo in the top-three of the 100-fly was Lindner whose time of 59.29 ranked just ahead of Simpson in third (59.72).
Simpson added her own second-place finish in the 200-breast posting a 2:28.83 mark. Mallon clocked in fourth in the event at 2:30.37. At the 100-yard distance in the breaststroke, it was Mallon (1:08.16, 2nd) finishing ahead of the freshman (1:08.54, 3rd) as both recorded top-three times.
Newcomer Courtney Regan (Southbury, Conn.) chipped in with a second-place showing in the 500-free, finishing in 5:15.08. Regan was at the forefront of the squad's distance efforts on the afternoon, also ranking as the top Seton Hall performer in the 1,000-free with a time of 10:52.95. Sophomore Erica Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) followed Regan to the wall to take fifth-place (10:55.41).
Carson paced The Hall with a fourth-place time of 25.11 in the 50-free while sophomore Maddie Harris (Ocala, Fla.) was the top Pirate finisher in the 200-free (1:59.83, 5th).
To close the meet and clinch the victory over Drexel, Carson, Lindner and Alario teamed with freshman Sam Shirtliff (Camp Hill, Pa.) to earn third-place points with a time of 3:40.89 in the 400-free relay.
The Pirates will carry their unblemished record into their home debut next Saturday, November 1 when BIG EAST rival Providence visits South Orange. Start-time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
