Coming off of a strong 2015-2016 campaign, the Seton Hall swimming and diving team picked up right where they it off. Led by some key returning pieces and a host of newcomers, the Pirates defeated St. Peter’s and Montclair State on Friday night in the Imperattore Natatorium.
“I was very pleased with how everyone performed, not just the returners, but the freshmen,” head coach Ron Farina said. “Freshmen probably won close to half of our events tonight."
Not only did the Pirates win on Friday night, but they were dominant in doing so. The men’s team defeated Montclair State by a score of 167-106 and St. Peter’s by a score of 161-89.
The women’s team was even more dominant, defeating Montclair State 158-93 and St. Peter’s by a whopping 116 points, 157-41. Montclair State won two matches on the night, both of them coming against St. Peter’s.
The Pirates showed no signs of rust or nerves in Friday night’s dominant performance.
“The way they are swimming right now at this point in the season, we are very happy with where they are at,” Farina said.
While the men’s team returns Big East swimmer of the year Noah Yanchulis, Big East freshman of the year Lior Grubert, and captain Cody Wimmer, it was the newcomers on the women’s team that provided a spark for the Pirates.
“We had a freshman win both breaststrokes, the 200 backstroke the 500 freestyle, and the 1000 freestyle,” Farina said. “You pepper in a couple of the upperclassmen winning some of their events and they are coming around into a very well-rounded team in terms of young and old."
That balance is something that Seton Hall will look to use to their advantage in their upcoming quad meet with Butler, Xavier and West Virginia. Although the Pirates were successful in their first meet, Farina still sees areas that the team can improve on.
“There’s little things that we can improve on. Turns, breakouts, reaction time on starts, and finishing our races when they start to get a little tighter,” Farina said. “Hopefully, we’ll have some close races again next weekend."
Next weekend’s race will take place at West Virginia, with the meet taking place on Oct. 14 and 15.
Tyler Calvaruso can be reached at tyler.calvaruso@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @tyler_calvaruso.
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