While many of the fall sports teams have struggled to stay relevant, Seton Hall’s men and women’s swimming and diving team have kept on winning. The Pirates will host Big East-rival Providence on Saturday as they look to continue their early success.
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This season both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have been impressive, to say the least. Combined, both teams have only dropped one match and the women’s team is still perfect going into Saturday’s meeting with the Friars.
“For the first time we have a lot of quality depth,” head coach Ron Farina said, “We don’t have to put our players in events they are not comfortable in. They can compete in events we recruited them for.”
For the men, senior Ben Mitchell has long since been considered a recruit. He is looking to defend his Big East crown and continue to shine in his final collegiate season. At the Loyola, Md. Quad Meet, Mitchell took first place alongside freshman and Maryland-native Noah Yanchulis. The Hall also had 10 runner-up efforts and that contributed to the win a weekend ago. The blue and white seem to have a good mix of youth and experience according to Farina.
“We have a good crop of freshmen who have raised their performance level,” Farina said. “They really feed off of each other and make each other better.”
The women’s team has not only been good this season, they have been perfect as the Pirates enter Saturday with a 6-0 record on the season. Junior Gabby Signorelli added another first place effort to her strong season at the Loyola Quad Meet and seems to be the leading the Hall. Still, it’s all about the team effort, says Farina.
“Signorelli has really led the way, but it is not a single lady it has been a team effort.” Farina said.
Sophomore Melody Bush, junior Megan Mallon, redshirt junior Gabi Levine and freshman Kat Carson have been a solid relay team, finishing first at Loyola in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:49.67.
Farina is happy with the young talent on the women’s team and the depth that has been showcased from the women’s side, but believes there are still things for his Pirates to focus on going forward.
“Being consistent is important,” he said, “Consistency will carry us to the Big East tournament.”
In the end, that is the ultimate goal for this team, and based on the talent, it is certainly within reach.
“That is our goal, we have never won a Big East Championship,” Farina said. “We are bringing in kids that want to be a part of history.”
The blue and white will look for even more positive results when they host Providence in preparation for the Big East tournament. This will be the first home event for the Hall since the opening diving meet against Montclair State.
The Pirates take on the Providence Friars on Nov. 1st in the Richie Reagan Athletic Center. The meet is set to begin at 1 p.m.
?Sean Saint Jacques can be reached via email sean.saintjacques@student.shu.edu and followed on Twitter @SSaintj7.
