Drew University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams suffered a disappointing loss to the University of Scranton on Saturday, Jan. 28 in their last dual-meet of the season. It was a tough meet for both the men’s and women’s teams, with the Rangers putting up an intense fight throughout the entire racing session. Unfortunately, Scranton’s teams managed to pull ahead in many of the swimming events and racked up extra points during the diving competition.
Saturday’s competition was a particularly challenging meet for the women’s team. They have had a difficult season this year, as exemplified by their races against Scranton. Despite winning nine out of the 16 events, the Rangers were unable to top the Royals in the pool, who scored 167 points to Drew’s 129 points.
Among the major point-scorers for the Rangers this past weekend were Grace Aboussleman (‘23), Katie Cashin (‘23) and Katerina Poulathas (‘25). Each of these swimmers won two individual events against the Royals, significantly contributing to Drew’s score and helping to keep the Rangers in the race.
The loss marked an unsatisfactory end to Drew’s dual-meet season, with the women’s team now having a meet record of 2-3 for the 2022-2023 season. While the Rangers are still in a solid position heading into the Landmark Conference Championships, it is a far cry from last year’s undefeated season.
Drew’s men’s team did not fare much better against the Royals on Saturday; they were topped by Scranton 160.5 to 123.5 points. Although the Rangers put up a strong showing in the pool, the Scranton Royals were not to be overcome, taking the victory in most of Saturday’s events.
The Rangers managed to capture four individual wins: Harrison Neal (‘23) in the 400-IM, Gabe Spivak (‘26) in the 200-breaststroke, Finn Armitt (‘24) in the 100-butterfly and Brendan Burkett (‘26) in the 100-freestyle. Armitt’s victory in the 100-butterfly also led to him breaking the University of Scranton’s pool record in the event, sparking plenty of excitement among the Rangers. The men’s loss to Scranton places their dual-meet record at 3-2 for the 2022-2023 season, just shy of their 4-2 record from the previous year.
Both teams are now on a short competition break before heading to Boyds, Md. from Feb. 17 to 19 for the Landmark Conference Championships.
Charlotte Wells is a junior double-majoring in English (with writing and communications emphasis) and French with a minor in humanities.
Featured image courtesy of Brendan Burkett.
