Last Saturday, Nov. 17, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were defeated by St. Rose, with the men falling 103-133 and the women 105-128.
Freshman Tara O’Donnell continued her winning streak, winning two individual races for the fourth straight time this season. She won first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:00.10 and also in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.80. O’Donnell then teamed up with junior Sarah Connelly, and seniors Julia Jones and Maureen Donovan to win the 200-yard medley relay with an astounding time of 1:55.53. Senior Kristina Schmitt picked up a win as well, scoring a 211.75 in the second one-meter diving event.
Freshman Josh Byrne led the men’s team, winning both diving events again, after winning both in the previous meets. Byrne won the first one-meter diving event with a score of 193.40 and the second diving event with 291.90. Following his lead was the 200-yard medley comprised of sophomore Ricky Divaccaro, freshmen Ben Verdi and Daniel Tarbrake, and junior Tyler Olson, who won the relay event with a time of 1:40.01. Olson also scored a win for the ‘Phins in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.85 seconds. Tarbrake won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:59.63 with Verdi winning the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:19.80.
St. Rose now leads Le Moyne 5-3 in the Upstate Challenge. 6 more teams have yet to face the Knights.
The swimming and diving team will head to the Ithaca Bomber Invitational this upcoming weekend from Friday, Nov. 30 to Sunday, Dec. 2. This will be the final time the team will be hitting the pool competitively for the fall semester.
