Lehigh splits with Rider; falls to Penn
Posted: November 11, 2006
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – With their highly anticipated annual meet with Lafayette less than a week away, the Mountain Hawks were back in the pool on Saturday, swimming against Rider and Penn at Rider’s Coppola Pool at Maurer Center. The Mountain Hawk men split two meets, downing Rider 133-104, but falling to Penn 138-94 as Lehigh now stands at 2-2. On the women’s side, Lehigh dropped both meets, losing to the Broncs 136-106 while falling to a tough Quaker squad 160.5-79.5.
The Mountain Hawks captains carried Lehigh against Rider, with senior Tom Gilbert winning the 200 back in 1:56.48 and taking second in the 200 IM in 2:00.34. Classmate Sean English picked up where former teammate Grant Flothmeier ’06 left off, with a very good swim in winning the 100 breast in 1:00.77. Sophomore Dan Johnson continued his strong early season efforts in the sprint freestyle events, taking second in the 100 and 200 yard freestyle events. The Mountain Hawks also won the 200 free relay with juniors Michael Hay and CJ Smiley teaming with freshmen Ryan Guttormsen and Jon Westfield.
The women’s top performance came in the 200 yard breast where sophomore Melanie Rolish led a one-two-three Lehigh finish. Rolish touched the wall in 2:24.77 with freshmen Stephanie Naylor and Liz Murray finishing right behind. Senior Julie Mitchell and freshman Laura Eull also had good swims for the Mountain Hawks in the backstroke events taking fifth and fourth, respectively in the 200. The Lehigh women also won the 200 free relay in 1:44.63 with Eull and Mitchell teaming with Naylor and freshman Claire Winiarski.
Lehigh will return to the pool on Friday when the Mountain Hawks swim against rival Lafayette. The meet gets underway at 6 p.m. from the Leopards’ Ruef Natatorium in Easton.