The only West Chester sports team competing off of solid land continued their command of Division II, as both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams prevailed over Southern Connecticut last weekend, extending both of their perfect seasons to 6-0.Day one of the competition was all the Golden Rams really needed, as they pulled out to massive leads of 110-53 on the men’s side and 105-60 for the women, before final scores of 191-157 and 210-150.
The men’s team won all three of the relays on Friday, and took the 400 medley relay as well on Saturday, a team consisting of Kevin Moyer, David Smoker, Bud McClernan, and Brendan Fanslau.
Some high points in the meet for the Golden Ram men were sweeping the top three spots in both the 100 yard butterfly, the event that gave West Chester the lead for good, and the 50 yard freestyle. Phil Luzney won 100, and Fanslau took the 50.
On Friday, Rod King triumphed in the 500 yard freestyle and Peter Madueno won the 100 breaststroke.
Saturday’s individual winners included David Smoker in the 200 butterfly and Matt Golebewski in the 100 freestyle.
The women had something to be intimidated by, with last year’s NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year, Kristen Frost, stepping into the pool. And although she did win two events on the day, West Chester was not rattled, as they easily swam their way to six wins to start the season.
Junior standout Jackie Borkowski took two events on Friday, the 100 backstroke and 200 free. Erin Fischer added a win in the 100 butterfly and Rachel Gale took the 100 breaststroke.
Borkowskie continued her weekend success by taking two more individual events on Saturday and a relay win. All together, she accumulated five wins on the weekend meet.
Her two individual victories were in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. She was also a member of the 400 medley relay, along with Erin Fischer, Megan Bauer, and Rachel Gale.
Fischer won her second individual race by prevailing in the 200 butterfly, where West Chester swept the top three positions. Jillian Murphy was also a victor, placing first in the 200 backstroke.
Next weekend, West Chester will take on their last non league competitor of the season, as Penn is coming to town. The men’s and women’s swimming team at Penn each have records of 2-4 on the season, but this Ivy League competitor cannot be taken lightly, as they go up against legacies like Yale, Harvard, and Cornell. These next two weeks are big for West Chester, as they could end the season perfect with victories in the last two meets.
Ryan Frisco is a second-year student majoring in Communication studies with a minor in Journalism. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.