BETHLEHEM, Pa. – On the eve of the 145th meeting of college football’s most-played rivalry, Lehigh and Lafayette will face off in the annual swimming and diving meet between the two rivals at Jacobs Pool. Friday’s meet marks the return to the pool for the Mountain Hawks, who were off last weekend. It also marks the end of the first segment of Lehigh’s season, as the Mountain Hawks will be looking to sweep their rivals for the second straight year before shifting focus to their winter training.
“Our preparation has gone really well,” explained Lehigh head coach Rob Herb. “We trained hard last week, and this week, we’re not necessarily tapering, but getting some rest with our focus on a strong performance this weekend. When you break down our schedule, the Lehigh-Lafayette meet is always going to be a major focal point.”
The Mountain Hawk men will be looking to continue their longstanding dominance in the series. Lehigh has won the last 18 meetings against Lafayette, including a convincing 207-93 triumph last season. The Mountain Hawks have enjoyed a strong start to this season, with wins in their first six duals, including triumphs over Rider and NJIT two weekends ago. Lehigh has solid depth, with swimmers from all classes making contributions. Senior Kevin McGrath has been a force in the breaststroke and IM events, and Lehigh’s freshman class, including Tyler Lareau, Alex Aboud and Frank Cuzzola, has shined in early season meets.
“The men have established some good depth,” said Herb, who is in his sixth season. “Lehigh’s men have a long standing tradition of swimming well in this meet. The goal is to take as many first place finishes as possible. It won’t be easy though, because Lafayette has brought in some really good swimmers in the last two years.”
McGrath echoed the sentiment of his coach.
“We’ve got good depth,” McGrath said. “We don’t want to focus on just winning races, but also trying to put together first-second finishes. We’ve been training hard and we know we’re going to have to swim fast on Friday.
McGrath continues, “The rivalry is great. It’s something you look forward to every year. A lot of our alums will be in attendance and we want to swim well for them. We want to make sure we keep the winning tradition alive on our side.”
On the women’s side, Lehigh snapped a two-meet losing streak to Lafayette with a 158-140 victory last season. The Mountain Hawk women enter the rivalry meet at 3-2 and, but they were very competitive in losses to West Chester and Rider. Herb will rely on his senior leaders, Allison Rolish, Julie Sicherman and diver Erin Tormey plus a talented core of sophomores and freshmen that includes Priscilla Barletta, Alena Pollitt, Paola Simon, Emily DiDonato and Danielle Caruso.
“We were just a few points behind West Chester and Rider, two teams who are strong within their respective conferences,” said Herb. “We’re developing some good depth, but Lafayette has brought in a strong freshman class, just like ours. It will come down to who comes to race on Friday. We train every day to race.”
“Friday’s meet is one we really want to win,” added Sicherman. “After losing to Lafayette in my first two years, we proved we could beat them. This year our team is stronger than ever and we want to go out and show that we can do it again. I’m looking forward to everyone swimming their best Friday night.
Sicherman continued, “The meet is all about energy. You can’t go into a meet like this and not be wired. When Friday comes, if you’re tired or sore it doesn’t matter. That’s the biggest thing we instilled to the younger swimmers, bringing a good positive energy to the meet.”
Lafayette returns to the pool for the first time since competing in a Patriot League quad-meet with American, Bucknell and Navy in Lewisburg, Pa. November 7. The Leopard men picked up their lone win of the season, by defeating the Eagles, while falling to the Bison and Midshipmen. Lafayette’s women dropped all three meets to fall to 0-6, while the men are 1-5.
The 32-event meet gets underway at 3 p.m. Friday with diving action from Jacobs Pool. Swimming competition is expected to get underway at approximately 6 p.m.
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