Nov. 16, 2012
Preliminary Results | Finals
Lewisburg, Pa. - The Fordham swimming & diving team began a three-day stretch at the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania on Friday. Through day one, the Rams are fifth and seventh respectively in the women's and men's competition, but had plenty to cheer about, as freshman Steve Sholdra broke a 20-year old school record in the 500-yard freestyle event.
The Fordham women scored 226 points on day one of the seven-team competition, while the men's team finished with 171.5 points.
The first night of finals opened with the 200 freestyle relay as the women's team of Chandler Lulley, Alana Biagioli, Shannon Lulley and Brienne Ryan placed third in a season-best time of 1:36.48, while the men's team of Shintaro Noguchi, Thomas Yi, Pat Militti, and Nick Burbidge finished seventh in a season-best time of 1:25.40.
The next event was the 500-yard freestyle, as four women's swimmers and one on the men's side made the finals. In the women's final, Megan Zarriello posted a season-best time of 5:06.98 in the "B" final to take 12th overall with Kara Field right behind her in 13th in 5:08.20. In the "C" final, Alana Biagioli clocked in at 5:11.96 for 21st with Frances Warren in 22nd place (5:11.96).
Though the women had four swimmers score, the highlight of the 500 freestyle was freshman Steve Sholdra, as he won the "A" final in a school record time of 4:29.82, breaking the 20-year-old record of 4:31.35, set by Paul Smith in 1992.
Next up was the 200-yard individual medley, where four Rams made the finals. Kelly Carroll led the way for the women, as she placed sixth in the "A" final in 2:07.78, while Megan Gehrich (2:09.59) and Theresa Goehring (2:09.76) were 11th and 12th overall respectively in the "B" final. On the men's side, Michael Grimmett-Norris was the lone finals qualifier, as he took 15th overall in the "B" final in 1:56.79.
The Rams had their best team success in the 50-yard freestyle event, as six women and two men made the finals. In the "A" final, Noguchi was second in the "A" final in a season-best time of 20.92 seconds, while Militti snagged 21st overall in the "C" final in 21.83 seconds.
In the women's races, Ryan was sixth in the "A" final in a time of 24.00 seconds, while Chandler Lulley was 14th overall in the "B" final in 24.89 seconds. The "C" final saw Kellie Lyver finish 18th (24.69), Shannon Lulley in 19th (24.78), Biagioli in 22nd (24.94), and Megan Gray in 24th (24.84).
The competition ended with some strange action in the 400-yard medley relay, as a number of teams were disqualified or false started, due to pad malfunctions. Those issues aside, the men's squad of Yi, Sholdra, Noguchi, and Militti took eighth in a season-best time of 1:25.40. On the women's side, only one of the Rams' three relays counted as Jordan Tomimatsu, Gehrich, Miranda Morton, and Chandler Lulley ended up ninth in a time of 4:01.56.
Day two of the Bucknell Invitational is set for Saturday.
