Men's swimming races to fast start in first meet against Wesleyan
By Karen Close, Staff Writer
The men's swimming and diving team began its season with a meet against Wesleyan University on Nov. 25. The Jeffs entered the 2002-03 campaign with high hopes fed by even higher expectations, so the first meet meant more than usual. They proved that those hopes were well-founded with a 129-100 victory over the Cardinals, winning all but two of the 13 events.

From the very first event, the 200-yard medley relay, the Jeffs dominated, taking first and second in the event. The relay team of Russell Lang '03, Mike Pohorylo '04, Bryan Woo '06, and co-captain Patrick Kennedy '03 won the event by over three seconds and also broke the pool record of 1:37.99 by seven-tenths of a second with the time of 1:37.21. "I would say that getting the pool record right at the start was a good way to enter into the meet." Kennedy said.

The Jeffs kept the pressure on the Cardinals in the 1000-yard freestyle, as Adam Lewkowitz '06 completed his race more than 30 seconds before his Amherst teammates, who finished in second and third, giving the Lord Jeffs their first sweep of the night.

The 200-yard freestyle, the third event of the day, made the first of two losses for the Jeffs. However, even without a first place finish, the Jeffs managed to collect points as Chuck Clinton '05 and Tom Gonella '06 captured second and third place.

With the 50-yard freestyle, Kennedy managed to get the Jeffs back on the winning track, triumphing in the sprint event by over seven-tenths of a second, followed closely by Dan Morash '04, who finished third for the Jeffs.

The following event, the 200-yard individual medley, yielded first and second place finishes for Ed Hagerty '06 and Russell Lang '03, respectively. Hagerty touched the wall an incredible five seconds before the rest of the competition. He clocked a time of 1:59.16 in what Kennedy called an "outstanding performance."

Former NCAA Division III national qualifier, co-captain Ben Hopkins '03, began the diving season with a victory in the three-meter event. The closest Cardinal scored in more than 100 fewer points. Alex Maass '06 made his collegiate diving debut with a strong second place finish.

After the first round of diving, the Jeffs made a sweep in the 200-yard butterfly, with Woo claiming first followed closely by teammates Nick Federico '06 and Elan Ghazel '05.

A little later, the Jeffs again swept the Cardinals with a victory in the 500-yard freestyle. Hagerty was again in first again, Dan Savage '06 in second and Jeff Sunderland '03 following close behind.

Despite the loss of Rick Estacio '06 due to injury, this recent success has Amherst looking with confidence towards their next meet against rival Middlebury College with confidence. "We're looking very strong going into the Midd meet, and we're expecting a great meet." Kennedy said.

Issue 13, Submitted 2002-12-04 12:35:25