Alexa Fitzgerald
On Saturday, November 18 the Drew University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to face Landmark Conference rival and host Elizabethtown College in a dual meet. Both teams captured wins towards their records. The women improved to 3-3 on the season with a 147-100 point triumph over the Blue Jays, while the men took a 135-121 victory to beat their second straight conference opponent gaining a 2-4 record.
Drew shined on the women’s side winning 13 of 14 events, including all the individual events. The Rangers went 1-2-3 in the 200 yard freestyle, along with three 1-2 sweeps. Katie Jefferson (‘20) placed first with a time of 2:06.51, Eve Morel (‘21) followed her in 2:10.40, and Jamie Riffel (‘20) rounded out the top three in 2:11.22. Eve Morel also won the 100 yard butterfly in 1:03.32.
Three individual victories were each secured by Jenny Stein (‘18) and Stephanie Cushman (‘20). Stein swam 26.15 in the 50 yard freestyle, 57.57 in the 100 yard freestyle, and 1:02.86 in the 100 yard backstroke. Cushman opened the meet with a win on the Rangers 200 yard medley relay squad. She then swam 1:15.78 in the 100 yard breaststroke, 2:15.33 in the 200 yard backstroke, and 2:23.92 in the 200 yard individual medley. Riffel also placed second in 2:19.92 to complete Drew’s other 1-2 sweep, behind Cushman.
Teammate Mal Vishwanath (‘20) placed first in both her events, finishing the 200 yard butterfly in 2:11.02 and the 500 yard freestyle in 5:13.72. Meanwhile, Kate Circus (‘20) clocked a 2:49.54 in the 200 yard breaststroke for first place. Audrey Keliehor (‘21) alongside Hailey Williams (‘20) registered an 11:56.42 and 12:28.55 to go 1-2 in the 1000 yard freestyle.
While the Drew men’s team won 10 individual events and the 200 medley relay event, it was a tight victory over the Blue Jays. Once again the Rangers went 1-2-3 in an event, this time in the 500 freestyle. Mack Fox (‘19) led with a 5:09.88, followed by Alexandre Sannibale (‘21) in 5:10.62, and in third was Garrett Pilkington (‘20) clocking in at 5:21.64.
For the men’s side, the Rangers had four 1-2 finishes. Fox swam a 10:25.82, while Pilkington registered a 10:49.63 in the 1,000 freestyle to finish 1-2. Then Drew earned another 1-2 finish in the 200 butterfly with Sannibale clocking a time of 2:09.84, which Jeremy Bradford (‘20) followed behind with a 2:13.91.
Michael Ma (‘20) claimed three first place finished on the day. Ma swam 55.39 in the 100 backstroke, 2:16.03 in the 200 breaststroke, and 2:01.41 in the 200 individual medley. Jack Mahoney (‘20) took first in his two individual events as well. In the 100 freestyle he registered 50.81 and put up a 1:50.60 in the 200 freestyle. Ryan Underwood (‘20) rounded out another 1-2 finish behind his teammate in the 100 freestyle where he clocked a 51.75. The last 1-2 finish was completed in the 50 freestyle, led by Matheus Macena (‘21) in 23.02 and once again followed by Underwood with a time of 23.26.
Drew is back in action on Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2 when they host the annual Ranger Invitational. The event will be held at the Kirby Pool and conclude the 2017 portion of the Rangers swimming and diving schedule.
