Shannon KeoughThe Cabrini College swim team got back in the water on Saturday, Jan. 23, with both the men’s and women’s teams in a dual-meet at Swarthmore College. The Cavaliers fell to the Phoenixes at the end of the day. The men’s final tally was 74-55 and the women lost with a score of 148-88.
“The team just really needs to stay focused and keep motivated ’til the end of the season. We’ve been practicing for a while now and I hope we don’t lose sight of our goals and hopefully we keep getting faster as the season comes to a close,” Emily Yurick, junior business administration major, said.
While the score might show a swift victory for the Garnet, the Cavs put up a good fight. Bill Boylan, junior accounting major, had a stand-out meet with races in the 100-yard freestyle and, along with sophomores Walt Jesruncosky, Sean Corrigan and Neil Cogno, first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The lady Cavs really performed well in the 500-yard freestyle with a one-two finish from senior Anne Konicki and junior Katie Bonanni. Yurick and freshman Taylor Bonanni saw a similar finish in the 200-yard Individual Medley.
“We swim a lot of great teams and it’s an honor to swim against the teams we do. They push us to do our best every time we swim,” Lisa Somers, junior social work major, said.
This meet comes on the heels of the announcement of both the men’s and women’s teams joining the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
“We are elated for our men’s and women’s student-athletes who will now be able to experience the benefits of competing within an intercollegiate conference,” Joe Giunta, the Cabrini director of athletics and recreation, said.
The new conference includes schools like Penn State Altoona and Pitt-Bradford. “We’ve added some great meets over the last few seasons, but a conference affiliation and end-of-season meet for our swimmers legitimizes the program even more,” head coach Mike Kernicky said.
Even more is at stake as the season starts to come to close. Seniors Andrea Carabello, Shawnee Gehman and Konicki are down to there last few meets with the program.
“We have one meet left and we are all excited for the season to wrap up,” Yurick, said. “It’s been a long season, but it also has been one of the best years for the program. We will also be sad to see the season come to end since we are losing three great seniors this year.”
