Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

SWIMMING & DIVING | Seven Seek Qualification

Seven may be the lucky number for Georgetown swimming and diving on Saturday as the team honors seven seniors and hopes to qualify seven swimmers and divers for the Big East tournament.

The senior night competition will be tough, however, as the Blue and Gray take on George Washington for the second time this season. The Colonials were held back by injuries in the first meeting, but Georgetown Head Coach James Holder knows that George Washington will be stronger this time, especially on the men’s side.

With only one meet between Saturday and the Big East tournament, Georgetown wants to continue the progress they showed last Saturday when they defeated American on both the men’s and women’s sides. The women came in a close second to James Madison last Saturday as well.

“We are a bit sharper because we have raced more,” Holder said. “The times [on Saturday] were where they should be.”

Seven team members — four swimmers and three divers — still need to qualify for the Big East tournament. After Saturday, those Hoyas will have just one more opportunity — a date against Maryland on Feb. 5 — to qualify.

Holder hopes that several swimmers will be able to make the cut and qualify during the meet against George Washington; many of them came close in the meet against American and James Madison.

Diving Coach Emily Richmond is optimistic that two of the divers — sophomore Jen Purks and junior Brian McCallister — will qualify on Saturday. Another, sophomore Shannon Donohue, is returning from an injury, but Richmond is confident that she will qualify in the final meet against Maryland.

“Divers count as one-third of a person for Big East rosters, so we want to qualify as many as we can,” Richmond said.

The team’s senior night festivities will honor the four graduating male and three graduating female swimmers. The departing seniors are Thomas Graham, Alex Hanson, Keenan Timko, Ray Zomerfeld, Megan Harvey, Caitlin Karniski and Mallory Kiplinger.

The meet begins at 1 p.m. at McCarthy Pool inside Yates Field House.

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