The women of Rutgers University turned in quick times and a sweep of the 3-meter dive to grab first during day one of the Sonny Werblin Invitational.
Rutgers Press Release:
The Rutgers swimming and diving team made its home debut on Friday, highlighted by a sweep of the 3-meter dive event during the first day of the Sonny Werblin Invitational at the RU Aquatics Center.
“We tried new things today and learned to take risks,” said head coach Petra Martin. “They’re doing the things that I asked them to do and that’s exciting. They fought well and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Off the boards, the Scarlet Knights swept the top-three positions in the 3-meter dive, with sophomore Addison Walkowiak (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finishing first with a 337.51 score. Junior Alyssa Black (Middletown, N.Y.) placed second with a mark of 333.30, while freshman Rachel Byrne (Bedford, N.H.) recorded a 275.40 for third in her RU debut.
Both Walkowiak and Black’s performances in the 3-meter dive were qualifying marks for the NCAA Zone Championships held in March.
In her first individual action since claiming Big Ten Swimmer of the Week, senior Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.) finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:00.4. Classmate Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) also registered a second-place mark in the 200 individual medley, hitting the wall at 2:07.61. Junior Rachel Stoddard (Hillsborough, N.J.) finished close behind Pfaff in the event for third with a mark of 2:08.98.
Competing in the 50 freestyle, junior Meghan Kiely (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) found the wall second, compiling a time of 24.33.
RU returns to the pool for the second day of the Sonny Werblin invitational beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. The day will be split into two sessions, with the second leg of competition commencing at 2 p.m.
Bridgeport Press Release:
The University of Bridgeport men’s and women’s swimming teams opened their 2015-16 on Friday at the Sonny Werblin Invitational hosted by Rutgers University. No team scoring is being kept at the meet which will conclude on Satiurday.
The Purple Knights took first place in both the men’s and women’s 50 Freestyle races, as junior Didac Matsuyama (Barcelona, Spain) won the men’s event in a time 21.39, and junior Tatiana Shepel (Moscow, Russia) won the women’s event in a time of 24.25. Also in the men’s 50 Free, freshmen Wilmar Du Plessis(Bloemfontein, South Africa) tied for second place (21.88) and Juan David Mafla (Cali, Columbia) took fourth place (22.34). In the women’s 50 free, freshman Nina Stegu (Ljublijana, Slovenia) grabbed fourth place (24.84) and sophomore Yekaterina Gakhokidze(Almaty, Kazakhstan) took sixth place (24.87).
Other outstanding individual men’s performances were turned on Friday night by senior Ivan Capan (Zagreb, Croatia), who took second place in the 200 IM (1:56.07) and junior Ivan Sangines (Barcelona, Spain), who finished third in the 500 Free (4:37.30).
Other outstanding women’s individual performance included sophomore Annagrazia Bonsanti (Caracas, Venezuela) taking fifth place in the 500 Free (5:08.81) and freshman Clara Mico Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) taking seventh place in the 200 IM (2:15.16)
The Purple Knights also won both 400 Medley Relays on Friday, as the women turned in a time of 4:10.92, and the men took first place with a time of 3:29.59.
Southern Connecticut Press Release:
The Southern Connecticut State University men’s swimming and diving team were led by Raymond Cswerko (Torrington, Conn.), Brandon Beaudoin(Scotia, N.Y.), and Tyler Vander Vos (South Windsor, Conn.) on Day 1 of the Rutgers Invite Friday afternoon.
The trio, along with Travis Burke (Downington, Pa.), took fourth place in the men’s 400 yard medley relay with a time of 3:44.94. Raymond Snyder (Waterbury, Conn.), Christopher Curtin (Wethersfield, Conn.), Dylan Swanepoel (Milford, Conn.) and Louis Geist (Arvada, Colo.) finished right behind them at 3:47.78. Brendan Murphy(Watertown, Conn.), Matt Demirs (Oakville, Conn.), Tyler Castellone (South Windsor, Conn.) and Shane Maypother (Wall Township, N.J.) placed seventh with a time of 4:01.67.
Cswerko placed highest of any Owl in the men’s 50 yard freestyle. He came in second with a time of 21.88. Also placing in the men’s 50 yard freestyle was Murphy in fifth at 22.44, Castellone in 13th at 23.68, Alexander Bachard (Monroe, Conn.) in 21st at 24.26 and Christian Bouzyk (West Hartford, Conn.) and Greg Rodriguez (Madison, Conn.) tied for 25th at 24.89.
Beaudoin finished behind Geist in the men’s 200 yard IM. Geist finished seventh at 2:02.01, and Beaudoin was behind him in 13th with a time of 2:04.85. Snyder finished in 16th at 2:06.51, and Lucas Fanucci (Malvern, Pa.) rounded out the Southern Connecticut swimmers coming in 23rd with a time of 2:11.37.
Swanepoel and Vander Vos finished seventh and eighth in the men’s 200 meter freestyle with times of 4:48.35 and 4:49.38, respectively. Curtin came in 16th with a time of 5:10.24, Steskla came in right behind him at 5:10.73 and Maypother placed 19th with a time of 5:17.16.
Salim Lemond (Oxford, Conn.) also saw action on the diving board for the Owls, finishing with 244.42 points. He was the only diver to dive on the day.
The Owls return to action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in Day 2 of the Rutgers Invite.
For those with short memories Sonny Werblin was the original owner of the New York Jets pro football team in the early ’60s and to make inroads for the then fledging American Football League against the powerful and entrenched NFL — and particularly against the New York Giants — Werblin decided he and his league needed tomdomsonethingbreally headline grabbing — and he did.
He signed Joe Namath, a flamboyant quarterback out of Alabama w/shaky knees, to a then jaw-dropping and unprecedented $400,000 contract.
Move paid off in spades too as Joe Willie led the Jets to their only Super Bowl win in franchise history, a stunning 16-7 upset of the Baktimore Colts ( niwvIndy Colts) in Super Bowl III @. Muami’s Orange Bowl in Januarynif 1969.
This was game where Namath was pictured on cover of Sports Illusrtated the week before the game lounging in a bathing suit beside a pool at a Miami Beach hotel, smoking a cigar and surrounded by scores of reporters. It’s also the SI cover where he made his famous ” guarantee” that “We’re gonna win!” And sure enough they dooed it.
Love to see Katie Ledecky? Muchael Phelps? Ryan Lochte? Katinka Hosszu? make that same “guarantee” prior to Rio but I won’t hold my breath.