Press Release courtesy of Rutgers Athletics
Rutgers swimming and diving will close out 2017 with a pair of meets this weekend as the swimmers head to the Texas Invitational and the divers take on the Big Al Open at Princeton.
TEXAS INVITATIONAL – Wed. Nov. 29 – Sat. Dec. 2 – Austin, Texas
“The team and I are very excited for the opportunity to race this weekend,” said assistant coach Jon Maccoll. “Texas has one of the premier facilities in the world and the competition at the meet will be world-class, as well. Coming off the success of the Frank Elm Invitational, the team is confident that we can have even greater success at this meet as we work toward the Big Ten Championships.”
MEET INFORMATION
The four-day invitational at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center kicks off on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. ET with the 800-yard freestyle relay, the only event of the opening day. Preliminary races take place Thursday through Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. ET, with finals scheduled for 6 p.m. ET each evening.
Competing women’s teams include Texas, Arizona, BYU, Harvard, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma Baptist, TCU, USC, UCLA, UNLV and Wisconsin.
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Meet Mobile (Search Texas)
KNIGHT NOTES
- Junior Vera Koprivova was named the MVP of the Frank Elm Invitational for scoring the most points (107) over the three-day event at the Rutgers Aquatic Center. Her highlights included winning the 200-yard backstroke, a second place finish in the 400-yard individual medley, a third place in the 100-yard backstroke, and swimming the backstroke leg on the winning 400-yard medley relay team that set a new pool record.
- Junior Francesca Stoppa set a new pool record and posted an NCAA B standard in a first place 200-yard butterfly performance at the Frank Elm Invitational. It was her second NCAA B-Cut of the weekend following a qualifying time in the 100-yard butterfly, another win for Stoppa to run her team-leading event victory total to seven this season. Her 1:57.21 in the 200 Fly currently ranks 19th in the nation and third in the Big Ten.
- Sophomore Federica Greco finished one point shy of the Frank Elm Invitational MVP award with 106 points tallied over three days. She was second in the 200-yard butterfly, third in the 200-yard individual medley, fourth in the 400-yard individual medley, fifth in the 100-yard butterfly, while posting an NCAA B standard in the 100 Fly prelims. She also swam the butterfly leg in the pool record setting 400-yard medley relay squad.
- Senior Larissa Neilan swam the breaststroke leg of the pool record setting 400-yard medley relay at Frank Elm. She also touched in an NCAA B standard in the 200-yard breaststroke prelims before taking second place in the A Final.
Sophomore Clare Lawlor anchored the pool record breaking 400-yard medley relay with the final 100 yards of freestyle at the Frank Elm Invitational, while adding three A Final appearances throughout the weekend and a runner-up finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Lawlor was ranked fourth individually in point accumulation with 94 at Frank Elm.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Rutgers swimming and diving announced on Oct. 30 the addition of Carmen Young to the Scarlet Knights’ support staff as the Volunteer Director of Player Development. The newly acquired position is responsible for preparing student-athletes for personal, academic and athletic development success. Young, who has swimming experience at both the competitive and coaching level, will be assisting the program with multifaceted tasks.
SWIM & DIVE POSTS FIRST PERFECT GRADUATION SUCCESS RATE SCORE
The program achieved its first perfect score of 100 in the annual GSR report by NCAA Division I, released on Nov. 8. The score reflects an average for students who entered college from 2007-10. The graduation-rate data is based on a six-year cohort prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education. The NCAA developed the Division I GSR in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today.
LAST TIME OUT
Rutgers scored a runner-up finish at its Frank Elm Invitational, which hosted 14 teams including Navy, Columbia, Northeastern and James Madison. The Scarlet Knights compiled 1,447.5 points for the second place finish out of 14 teams, their best placing at their home invitational since 2015. Two-time defending ECAC Champions Navy won the Frank Elm Invitational for the third consecutive year with 1,648 points, while Columbia (1,229.5), Northeastern (1,160.5) and James Madison (763) rounded out the Top 5.
UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights enjoy Winter Break and return to competition at home on Friday, Jan. 12 at 4 p.m. against Yale in a dual meet at the Rutgers Aquatic Center.
BIG AL OPEN – Fri. Dec. 1 – Sun. Dec. 3 – Princeton, N.J.
“We are very excited to be competing at the Big Al Open this weekend alongside the University of Miami, one of the top diving teams in the country,” said interim head coach and head diving coach Frederick Woodruff. “It will be our divers’ biggest test so far. Joining the divers in Princeton will be distance swimmer Francesca Bertotto. She is coming off an excellent performance at the Frank Elm Invitational, so we are looking forward to cheering her on this weekend.”
MEET INFORMATION
The divers get underway on Friday at 11 a.m. with 1-meter prelims, followed by finals at 5:30 p.m.Saturday’s 3-meter prelims begin at noon, with finals slated for 6:30 p.m. The platform competition takes place on Sunday at noon.
Bertotto will race the 200-, 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle events, one on each day.
Rutgers will join Princeton, Brown, Villanova, Dartmouth, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Rider, William & Mary and Miami at the Big Al Open.
FOLLOW LIVE
Meet Mobile (Search Big Al Open)
Live Video on the Ivy League Network ($): Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
KNIGHT NOTES
- Senior Addison Walkowiak was named the Diver of the Meet at the Frank Elm Invitational by scoring the most points over the three-day event. She compiled 88 points via a win in 3-meter diving, and runner-up finishes on the 1-meter and the platform. Her 88 points ranked sixth among all competitors (swimmers and divers) throughout the weekend. Her first platform score of the season came in at 257.95, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten. She has posted the highest 3-meter score in the Big Ten this season (359.60) and the second highest 1-meter mark (312.70). Walkowiak is qualified for the NCAA Zone 1 Championships at Rutgers in all three diving events.
- Junior Rachel Byrne posted NCAA Zone Championships qualifying scores on the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events at the Frank Elm Invitational. She placed third on the 3-meter, fifth on the platform and sixth on the 1-meter.
- Bertotto, a sophomore, is coming off a win in the 1,650 at Frank Elm, where she touched in at 16:35.54 and beat the second place finisher by 18 seconds.
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