The Lions came out on top at William Paterson University, as both the men and women outpaced the Pioneers on Saturday. The women came home with a 136-76 victory while the men handed WPU a 127-87 loss.
"We expected (the spread) but we go into each meet the same way," senior Aubrey Horvath said.
A quartet of seniors closed out the meet with the final win in the 200-meter freestyle relay. Lauren O'Donnell, Horvath, Jacquelyn Nami and Kristen Simms posted a time of 1:48.33.
For Simms, a diver, the race was her first. "She was a good sport about it with the whole cap and goggle thing," Horvath said.
O'Donnell helped push the two relays to first place finishes. The 200-meter medley team of O'Donnell, junior Heather Mierkowski and sophomores Beth Hurley and Erin Stutz posted a time of 2:00.09.
Hurley, Stutz and Mierkowski each garnered individual wins as well. Hurley won the 50-meter freestyle in 26.84, while Stutz captured the 100-meter fly in 103.27. Mierkowski finished the 500-meter free in 5:53.18.
Horvath, a 2003 All-American, won the 1,000-meter freestyle in 12:05.15. Nami won the 100-meter freestyle in 57.73.
In the diving events, Simms won the one-meter with a score of 146.25.
The Lions men handed the Pioneers a 125-87 loss, with junior Davy Bisslik posting three wins. Bisslik placed first in the 200-meter fly with a time of 52:71. He then teamed up with junior Nick Steffanci, sophomore Steve Swenson and freshman Kyle King to win the 200-meter medley relay in 1:38.85.
Staffanci also won the 200-meter IM in 2:01.95 and Swenson also took first place in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:00.23.
"They re not a very strong team," senior Wes Donnelly said. "We were trying to get some times for nationals."
Donnelly won the 100-meter backstroke and took third in the 1,000-meter freestyle.
Both the men s and women s teams mixed up the usual lineup. "I never usually swim the 1,000," he said. "Everyone got a chance to do something different."
The 200-meter freestyle relay of Bisslik, senior Steve Nepola and freshmen Jonaid Lone and Mark Rynon swam a time of 1:31.45 to beat of the Pioneers. Nepola also captured the 100-meter freestyle in 49.03.
The victories boost the women's team record to 6-4 for the year while the men stand at 7-3. The teams gear up next for the Metropolitan Conference Championships on Febr. 21 and 22.
The men are looking to better a runner-up finish from the 2003 Mets, while the women chase their sixth consecutive win. "Hopefully, we can expect to win and we're hoping to qualify a lot of people for nationals," Horvath said.
The College s divers will be competing at the Rutgers University Diving Invitational on Friday, Feb. 13.
