Cabrini’s men’s and women’s swimming teams competed in a tri-meet against Lebanon Valley College and Marywood University at the Dixon Center Pool on Saturday, Nov. 20. The men earned the top spot against both teams in a close battle with Lebanon Valley while the women achieved second place by edging out Marywood.
The men managed to defeat Lebanon Valley by only one point with a score of 48-47 while stomping Marywood with a score of 58-37. The women routed Marywood with a score of 64-31 but fell to Lebanon Valley with a score of 61-34.
The senior men led the way to Cabrini’s victory with six first-place finishes. Seniors Kyle Teliszewski, Bill Boylan and Matthew McGuriman led the effort.
Teliszewski won the 100-yard freestyle (51.26) and 500-yard freestyle (5:17. 51) as well as being a member of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay (1:32.89.) The other members of the relay team were Boylan, McGuriman and freshman Rocco Del Monte IV.
Boylan won the 50-yard freestyle (23.15) and McGuriman dominated the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.25) to help the senior effort.
“I’m happy with the performance of this meet and how the team is supporting each other,” Ben Nanna, senior freestyle, said. “I think this meet shows that as a team and as individuals we’re all making great progress.”
The rivalry with Lebanon Valley has been established from previous seasons, but both the men and the women had never previously competed against Marywood.
“We swim Lebanon Valley every year and it’s always really competitive,” Neil Gogno, junior freestyle/breaststroke, said. “This is the first time we’ve seen Marywood though and it’s always a great experience to see a team for the first time.”
It was rewarding for the men’s and the women’s teams, as well as the fans, to be able to beat Marywood considering it was the first meet against this new opponent. Anytime there is a new opponent, there is uncertainty, but Cabrini went forth without hesitation and came out with a victory.
“We weren’t really sure what to expect from Marywood today,” Lisa Somers, senior freestyle, said. “I think it was a great learning experience to compete against them.”
Junior Lauren Sliva played a major role in the women’s defeat of Marywood by earning first place in the 100-yard butterfly (1:07.38.) She also helped bring in another first place finish for the Cavs in the 200-yard freestyle with freshman teammates Elyse Phillips and Breaghann Smith, as well as senior Emily Yurick.
Unfortunately, the women were not able to top Lebanon Valley, but the stiff competition was a learning tool for the rest of the season.
“This was a tough one but also a great challenge,” Kim Crowther, freshman backstroke, said. “Everyone pulled through and we proved to ourselves that we can do really good.”
The team support was in full swing with both the men and the women constantly supporting the other’s efforts. The support on both sides is a great sight for the fans who want to see the Cavs have a successful season with a closely-knit team.
“It’s so important to support the team because when people are in the water they can hear one of their teammates rooting for them and it can provide that extra boost,” Somers said. “We really supported each other today and focused on getting the team hyped.”
For Cabrini swimming, the month of December will include a tri-meet against Bryn Mawr College and Arcadia University, as well as the Swarthmore College Invitational. The Cavs will look to apply the experience gained in the meet against Lebanon Valley and Marywood to the month of December and the rest of the season.
“Overall, we had a great meet today and we learned that we were pretty evenly matched with these teams,” Gogno said. “We were very competitive with them and we’re going to look to continue to be very competitive in the rest of our meets.”
