The following is a press release courtesy of Seton Hall Swimming & Diving:
Jan. 14, 2015
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall women’s swimming & diving team won the first six events and never looked back in their return to competition on Wednesday night, going on to post 14 first-place performances in 16 events and coasting to a 167-117 victory over the visiting Iona Gaels at the Arthur E. Imperatore Natatorium.
Sophomore Melody Bush (Guelph, Ontario) and freshman Kylene Ronayne (Springfield, Pa.) combined for five of the Pirates (7-3) 10 individual victories in the pool while junior standout Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) once again went unbeaten from the diving board.
Bush was at the forefront of a pair of dominant showings for The Hall in backstroke events, first headlining an all-SHU top-three in the 100-back with a time of 1:00.04. Classmate Kelsey Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) touched in 2.4 seconds later to claim the runner up spot just ahead of teammate Alexa Santis (Ijamsville, Md.) in third (1:02.60).
At 200-yards, Seton Hall once again laid claim to the top-three positions as Bush sped her way to first place in 2:12.45. Santis edged Cora Meehan (Noblesville, Ind.) on the final leg but both reached the wall ahead of Iona’s top finisher; clocking in with times of 2:13.31 and 2:13.70 respectively.
Ronayne continued what has been a highly impressive debut campaign by returning the pool following the mid-season intermission and recording a meet-high three individual wins. The Springfield native’s first triumph came in the 200-free where she eclipsed fellow newcomer and Keystone State product Sam Shirtliff (Camp Hill, Pa.) on the second leg and held on to win in 1:57.13. Shirtliff went on to place third (1:59.10) while Meehan added fourth-place points (2:02.35).
Later in the action, Ronayne emerged as the class of the 500-free competition, topping the seven-swimmer field with a 5:12.04 effort. Sophomore Erica Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) reached the finish next, finishing in 5:20.18.
To close her individual program, Ronayne took top honors in the 200-IM, leading wire-to-wire before ultimately securing her third win with a final time of 2:13.61. Sophomore Cece Henry (St. Charles, Mo.) earned the runner-up spot, registering a 2:15.57 mark.
On the board, Signorelli twisted her way to a pair of victories that each came by a margin of over 85 points, topping the 270-point mark from both the one and three-meter distances. Her three-meter score of 271.35 set the tone before the Pirates even stepped on the block and she came back to post a 274.42 from one meter that was more than 100 points ahead of Iona’s top finisher.
Back in the pool, freshman Sydney Simpson (Tallahassee, Fla.) added a first-place finish in the 100-breast, edging the Gaels’ Maryellen Mangione by .02 seconds with a time of 1:09.72. Simpson also paced The Hall in the 200-breast and finished third in the 100-fly (1:00.38), reaching the wall behind teammates Tessa Lindner (Sun Prairie, Wisc.) (58.92) and Gabi Levine (Garwood, N.J.) (1:00.12).
The Pirates’ remaining three individual wins all came in freestyle competition and all belonged to freshmen as well. Kat Carson (Katy, Texas) sprinted her way to a 50-free time of 25.15 that was the best of the night while Shirtliff picked up first-place points at 100-yards by closing 1.55 seconds faster than runner-up Melissa Dorsch from Iona and clocking in at 55.14.
Courtney Regan (Southbury, Conn.) excelled in distance competition, eclipsing the rest of the 1000-free entrants with a time of 10:48.91. Naumann swam out in front for much of the first five minutes of the event and ultimately added another second-place finish (10:50.00).
In the first relay event of the evening, Bush, Simpson, Levine and Carson combined to win the 200-medley by nearly three seconds with a collective time of 1:52.46. In the final event of the meet, Bush teamed with Ronayne, Shirtliff and Levine to earn the fastest 400-free relay time (3:42.97).
There are now just three competition dates remaining leading up to the 2015 BIG EAST Championships (2/18-2/21, Ithaca, N.Y.), the next of which will also be held in South Orange. On Saturday, January 24, the Pirates will host the Marist Red Foxes in a meet that will also serve as Senior Day. Start-time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.