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 | Freshmen Shine in Final Regular Season Meet

FILE PHOTO: NATE MOULTON/THE HOYA Freshman Shana McLaughlin competed in Georgetown’s 200-yard freestyle relay team at the team’s final regular season meet at Rutgers over the weekend. The relay team earned first place with a time of 1:40.79.
FILE PHOTO: NATE MOULTON/THE HOYA
Freshman Shana McLaughlin competed in Georgetown’s 200-yard freestyle relay team at the team’s final regular season meet at Rutgers over the weekend. The relay team earned first place with a time of 1:40.79.

The Georgetown swimming and diving team travelled to Piscataway, N.J., over the weekend to take on Providence and Rutgers in its final regular season meet at the Rutgers Aquatic Center. Both teams defeated Providence, with the men’s team winning by a score of 200-71 while the women’s team outscored the Friars 208-70. Rutgers, which only has a women’s program, beat Georgetown by a score of 181-94.5.

The Hoyas received particularly outstanding performances from freshmen in their last meet of the regular season. On the men’s team, freshman Samuel Delise won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.04 as well as the 200 butterfly in 1:56.61. Freshman Daniel Ross also won two individual events for the Hoyas. Ross took first place in the 50 freestyle and in the 500 freestyle, clocking in at 22.16 and 4:43.89, respectively.

Ross was also a part of the 200 freestyle relay team that finished in first place with a time of 1:27.14. Ross competed alongside junior Michael Smigelski, senior Mike Spinelli and senior Michael Young in the contest. Michael Spinelli also placed first in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 51.29.

Young had nothing but praise for his freshman teammate.

“Dan Ross is a really good swimmer,” Young said. “I don’t know if there is an event that he can’t do. He just crushes it in anything he swims.”

The Hoyas also benefitted from a strong showing by junior Cal Rohde. Rohde was victorious in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.99 and in the 100 backstroke, which he completed with a time of 54.02, earning him two first place finishes.

Other standouts for the men’s side were freshman Jack McGuire, who finished first in the 200 freestyle, and freshman Edward Spinelli, who won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.11.

“[The freshmen] performed well,” Head Coach Jamie Holder said. “They did what they needed to do over the weekend.”

The men’s team from Providence struggled to attain top honors, placing first in only two events. Senior John Fatigati was responsible for both of those first place finishes, winning both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke.

Sophomore diver Jared Cooper-Vespa performed well for Georgetown once again, continuing the consistent success that has defined his second season as a Hoya. Cooper-Vespa took first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving contests, scoring 254 and a 276.85, respectively.

“[Cooper-Vespa has] had a great season so far,” Holder said. “He really has seemed to come into his own as a diver here. He’s a really hard worker. He’s always willing to challenge himself and it’s really paying off.”

On the women’s side, the Hoyas’ divers were unable to best their competition from Rutgers. Rutgers’ freshmen divers Addison Walkowiak, Alyssa Black and Morgan Engel took first, second and third places in both the 1m and 3m contests.

Following the Rutgers’ sweep of the top diving spots was senior Lauren Kahan, who finished fourth for Georgetown in the 1m event with a score of 244.40. Freshman Jennifer Sullivan also took fourth place for the Hoyas in the 3m event with a score of 220.15.

Freshmen swimmers also stood out for the women’s team. Freshman Molly Fitzpatrick placed first in the 200 individual medley, finishing with a time of 2:13.52.

Freshman Ryan Murphy had a photo finish in the 100 backstroke. Murphy clocked in at 58.86, less than a tenth-of-a-second in front of fellow freshman Emily Erwin of Rutgers. Murphy also came from behind to finish second in the 200 backstroke.

In addition, the Hoyas’ first place 200 freestyle relay team featured two freshmen. Freshmen Kirstin Peterson and Shana McLaughlin swam alongside juniors Delaney Bader and Erica Fabbri and won with a time of 1:40.79.

“Our freshmen have done a really good job of coming in and transforming our culture here,” junior Erin Timochenko said. “They have come up as huge players, not just at this meet, but throughout the season. … They have really helped us out in a lot of events and we are excited to see what they can do at Big East.”

The Hoyas will spend the next week preparing for the 2015 Big East competition.

“Everybody is focused on the last meet of the year,” Holder said. “It is what we have been working for all season.”
Holder anticipates continued contributions from Georgetown’s freshmen at the conference-wide contest.

“Many of [the freshmen] have experience in big meets, so I expect them to be able to handle the competition really well,” Holder said.

The championship meet will take place over the course of four days at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. It is set to begin Feb. 18.

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