The Saint Michael's College men's and women's swimming & diving teams split with Clarkson University on Saturday at the Ross Sports Center natatorium, with the women downing the Golden Knights, 142-93, but the men falling by a narrow 106-99 count. The Purple Knight women improved to 3-1 while downing 0-3 Clarkson for the seventh straight year, and the men slipped to 1-2 against the 2-1 visitors during their final home meet until Jan. 17.
Junior Lindsay McNall (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) and first-year Patty Kohn (Weston, Conn./Greenwich) notched three wins apiece for the hosts, including while siding with junior Cymantha Rogers (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) and first-year Shannon Kelley (Jefferson, Mass./Wachusett Regional) to claim the 400-yard medley relay (4:19.34). McNall captured the 200-yard butterfly (2:18.60) and 200-yard individual medley (2:19.00), and Kohn was the top finisher during the 200-yard backstroke (2:13.84) and the 200-yard freestyle (2:04.48).
Sophomore Genevieve Gigandet (Groveland, Mass./Central Catholic) won both one-meter diving competitions, notching 171.08 points in the first before collecting 122.02 points in the second to edge out the runner-up by 0.22. Senior Catherine Tierney (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) topped the 1,000 free field in 12:31.11, followed by sophomore Coral Santos (Pawtucket, R.I./Saint Raphael Academy) in second place.
Tierney was also second in the 500 free, while Rogers placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Katherine Lecce (Falls Church, Va./Saint Margaret's School) and first-year Tess Grimaldi (Higganum, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) were second in the 100 and 50 free races, respectively. Kelley and Lecce joined sophomore Sammy Sidorakis (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) and first-year Elizabeth Doherty (Dedham, Mass./Dedham) to take second in the 400 free relay.
Sophomore Pierce Farrington (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) played a hand in three of the men's team's five victories, including as he touched the wall first in the 200 breast (2:19.52) and 200 free (1:51.24). During the former, his time was just 1.4 seconds short of Nathan Paluso's '15 two-year-old school record. Farrington, sophomore Zach Kosakowski (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and first-years Ryan Kirkpatrick (Hebron, Conn./RHAM) and Pat Thornton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) neared another record in the 400 medley relay, winning in 3:44.78 to fall just 1.06 seconds short of a seven-year-old mark.
Thornton picked up a second win during the 200 fly (2:07.24), and the Purple Knights' top 400 free relay quartet of juniors Stephen Andersen (Concord, N.H./Concord) and Ryan Butler (Waltham, Mass./Waltham), sophomore Joe Carroll (Andover, Mass./Andover) and first-year Benjamin Guilmette (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) won in 3:32.52.
Kosakowski was the runner-up in the 200 back and 200 IM, while Kirkpatrick took second in the 50 free. Sophomore Spencer Ralston (Hebron, Conn./Cushing Academy) placed second in the 1,000 free, and Andersen joined seniors Sean Faust (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) and Chad Phalon (Wantage, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) and junior Sean Glasheen (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) to nab second in the 400 medley relay. Sophomore Jake Fox (Cranston, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) was third in the 500 free, but just 0.16 seconds short of second.
The Purple Knights head to the State University of New York at Potsdam on Friday to kick off the two-day North Country Invitational, the squad's final meet until Jan. 11, 2016.
