West Chester vs Lehigh
- October 20, 2023
- Bethlehem, Pa.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Lehigh Athletics
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It was a strong home opener for Lehigh women’s swimming and diving at Jacobs Pool Friday evening as the Mountain Hawks downed West Chester 138-103 to capture their first victory of the season.
Lehigh had nine first-place finishes on Friday.
The Mountain Hawks got off to a good start with the relays, winning the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:47.39. Sarah Hardy, Danielle Prekop, Julia Stevens and Mairin Ludwig were the four swimmers to lead the Mountain Hawks to victory.
The group of Noel Fresa, Caitlin Deitch, Juliana Guida and Darrah Shuff led the Mountain Hawks to a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:39.98
Lehigh was once again strong on the board, sweeping both events. First-year Kate Whitaker pulled out her first win after recording 229.73 points. Sarah Gill won the three-meter dive with a final score of 262.60 points. Gill now has three wins on the season.
Ludwig had a team-high of 18 individual points after winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.97) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:01.27).
Deitch scored 13 individual points after winning the 100-yard freestyle (52.99) and taking second in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.92).
Hardy had a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM (2:07.25) and had a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (2:08.12).
Stevens came in first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.83.
The Mountain Hawks will look to keep it going when they return to Jacobs Pool on Saturday to take on Rider at 1 p.m.
Courtesy: West Chester Athletics
BETHLEHEM, PA – Paul Demesy (Saint Ulrich, France) was a double winner in helping visiting West Chester University top host Lehigh, 117-107, in a non-league men’s swimming & diving meet at Jacobs Pool Friday evening.
West Chester (3-1) halted a personal four-meet losing streak to Lehigh (0-2), topping the Mountain Hawks for the first time since 2016 and the first time on the road since 2014. West Chester is 8-7 against Lehigh in their last 15 head-to-head contests.
Demesy won both the 500-yard freestyle and the 1650 free with a teammate finishing right behind him in both races. Daniel Dunigan (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) was second in the 500 free and Jacob Texter (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) second in the mile. Meanwhile, Devin Metzger (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) won the 100 free, led off the 400 free relay that also took first place and was runner-up in the 50 free.
Freshman Aidan Falkish (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), classmate Ryan Lee (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill) and senior A.J. McClurkin (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) went first, second and third, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke. Those points were crucial in West Chester’s victory, though the Golden Rams’ win in the final event of the day (400 free relay) clinched it.
Gabe Laslo (Wind Gap, Pa./Nazareth Academy) won the 200 butterfly with teammate Joel Dunnigan (York, Pa./Dallastown) finishing third. Ben Desclous (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) placed second in the 200 backstroke, and diver Boden Burkhart (Walnutport, Pa./Northampton) was runner-up off the 1-meter springboard.
West Chester travels to Bloomsburg next Friday, before it begins training for the Total Performance Invitational in November that will give the team its first indication of where the Golden Rams stand in their preparation for the conference meet and nationals.