Montclair, NJ (10/19/07) – Seniors Ava Kiss (North Brunswick, NJ / Stuart Country Day) and Liam Gallagher (Bridgewater, NJ / Bridgewater-Raritan) each posted three victories as The College of New Jersey swept Montclair State in a NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving meet at the Panzer Pool on Friday evening.
Josh Forsman (Jackson, NJ / Jackson Memorial) added two individual event wins on the men's side for New Jersey while
LAURA SPADONI (Nazareth, PA / Nazareth Area) had two triumphs for the MSU women as the TCNJ men's team posted a 166-110 victory in their season opener. The New Jersey women's team earned a 156-124 win against the Red Hawks. Sophomore
JOHN ADAMS (Wharton, NJ / Pope John XXIII) won a pair of events for the Montclair State men's team as both Red Hawks squads dropped their opener to the perennial regional power.
Gallagher took first place in the 100 backstroke (56.02) and the 200 breaststroke (2:22.22) while helping the 200 medley relay team to a first-place showing (1:41.49). Gallagher was joined on the relay by Myles O'Connor (Santa Monica, CA), Herman Chu (Long Valley, NJ / West Morris Central) and Pete Goldsmith (Easton, PA / Easton Area). Goldsmith would go on to win the 500 freestyle (5:16.08) as TCNJ took 12 of the 15 events contested on the evening. Forsman added his two victories in the 100 freestyle (50.00) and 100 butterfly (54.78) and O'Connor was victorious in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.11). Other winners for the Lions include Tim Rausch (Hillsborough, NJ / Hillsborough) in the 1000 freestyle (10:29.83); Tom Medvecky (Piscataway, NJ / Piscataway) in the 200 butterfly (2:00.15); Ryan Tighe (Sayreville, NJ /St. Joseph's (Metuchen)) in the 200 individual medley (2:16.93) and Greg Lloyd (Ringoes, NJ / Hunterdon Central) in the one-meter diving event (152.90).
Adams won the 50 freestyle (23.15) and 200 backstroke (2:08.37) for Montclair State which also got a first-place finish from
RICKY MILLER (Seaside Park, NJ / Monsignor Donovan) in the 200 freestyle (1:49.57). The Red Hawks also took top honors in the 400 freestyle relay as
BLAISE LACCA (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township),
BRANDON SANDS (Easton, PA / Wilson Area),
MATT HYDE (Clifton, NJ / Clifton) and
DEREK HENRICHSEN (West Allenhurst, NJ / Ocean Township) recorded a time of 3:31.71.
On the women's side, Kiss won the shortest and second-longest freestyle events as she captured the 50 and 500 with times of 25.65 and 5:27.75, respectively. She then swam the third leg of the winning 200 medley relay team as she was joined by Christine Marino (Scotch Plains, NJ / Mt. St. Mary Academy), Margaret Molloy (Toms River, NJ / Toms River East) and Michelle Wilson (Milville, NJ / Milville) as the quartet posted a time of 2:00.72. Wilson took first in the 100 freestyle (57.48) and Molloy added first-place finishes in the 200 individual medley (2:20.14) and the 200 freestyle (2:01.97). TCNJ also got a win in the 100 backstroke as Stacy Delehanty (Oceanport, NJ / Shore Regional) posted a time of 1:06.23. Stefanie Rashti (Cherry Hill, NJ / Cherry Hill West) was first in the 200 butterfly (2:22.43) and Erica Nelson (Plainsboro, NJ / West Windsor-Plainsboro South) captured the one-meter diving with a score of 114.85. Caitlin Elmendorf (Medford, NJ / Shawnee) won the 200 backstroke (2:24.82) and Christina Falcone (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame) rounded out the TCNJ top placings as she swam 1:04.57 in taking the 100 butterfly.
Montclair State's took four events in the meet courtesy of Spadoni, who collected wins in the 100 (1:13.92) and 200 breaststroke (2:43.41). The 400 freestyle relay team was also victorious as
KRISTINE BATES (Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson),
BRITTANY COLE (Linden, NJ / Linden),
KAITLIN MUCHLER (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) and Galina Lontchouk (Richboro, PA / Council Rock) had a time of 3:55.64. Loutchouk would add a victory in the 1000 freestyle as the freshman swam a time of 11:31.03 in her first collegiate meet.
Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, October 27 as they travel to Schenectady, NY to compete in the Union College Relays. The Lions next meet is slated for Sunday, October 28 as TCNJ takes on C.W. Post in Greenville, NY.
