The College of New Jersey Athletics

Franklin and Marshal Invitational results

Franklin and Marshall Invitational team scores

Lancaster, PA ... The College of New Jersey men’s and women’s swimming teams swept the Franklin and Marshall Invitational event in impressive fashion. The invitational, which is comprised of three, separate sessions over two days, included 10 participating teams in the men’s competition and 13 teams in the women’s events.

Entering the weekend ranked sixth in the Division III national polls (TCNJ men’s team) and 16th (TCNJ women’s team), the Lions cemented their presence in being considered amongst the country’s best thus far in 2009. The men’s team boasted talent and depth amassing 826.5 points and besting second-place finisher and host Franklin and Marshall (354 points). The women’s team outraced a strong Kutztown University unit racking up 653.5 points to top the group of 13 schools.

The final event of Session III served as a microcosm of the weekend for TCNJ. After Margaret Molloy (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) won the 1650-yard freestyle event with a finishing time of 17:40.46 and qualified for an NCAA B-cut, the men’s swimmers staked their claim to the top four spots in the 19-swimmer race.

Junior Tim Rauch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough), freshman Mike Caputo (Staten Island, NY/Curtis), freshman Matt Peveler (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills), and junior Peter Goldsmith (Easton, PA/Easton) placed one through four as Rauch won the event with a time of 16:35.88.

Shawn Kircher (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) and Tom Medvecky (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) also earned first place finishes on Sunday. Kircher posted a winning time of 46.78 in the 100-yard freestyle, while Medvecky touched the wall in 1:55.61 to claim the 200-yard butterfly.

Myles O’Connor (Los Angeles, CA/Santa Monica J.C.) finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.94 (just three-tenths of a second off the winning time) and Mike Vernoia(Hillsborough,NJ/Immaculata) took third behind Kircher in 100-yard free. Joe Tseng (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) and Andrew Smith (Basking Ridge, NJ/Morristown Beard) placed third and fourth in the 200-yard backstroke.

In the women’s competition, Laura Pierce (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) seized the 100-yard free in 53.4 seconds while teammate Kayleigh Shangle (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park) placed third finishing in 54.08.

Katie Morgan (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) and Danielle Dilts (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) earned points placing second and third in the 200-yard breast. Morgan recorded a time of 2:29.44 with Dilts close behind at 2:30.01.

The Lions won the 400-yard free relay as Pierce, Shangle, Molloy, and Traci Hofer (Millville, NJ/Millville) combined to take first by more than two seconds with a time of 138.30 also qualified for an NCAA B-cut.

Session 2

Similar to the opening session, the men's team bolted from the starting block in their opening event winning the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:35.85. The trio of freshmen Evan Paulan (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), junior Joe Tseng, and junior Tim Rauch finished one, two, three in 400-yard individual medley. Paulan posted a winning time of 4:17.96.

Junior Tom Medvecky placed first in the 100-yard butterfly at 52.27, while Mike Vernoia (200-yard freestyle) and Myles O'Connor (100-yard breast) also won their events.

Margaret Molloy was the lone first-place finisher in the second session for the Lions' women's team as she copped the 200-yard freestyle event finishing in 1:55.24. Sophomore Melissa Hessler (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) wasn't far behind taking third at 1:57.94.

Kayleigh Shangle took second place in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 1:07.83, and Laura Pierce finished third in the 100-yard butterfly finishing in 58.10. TCNJ also placed second in both the 200-yard medley and 800-yard free relays.

Session 1

Led by a pair of record-breaking performances, The College of New Jersey men's and women's swim teams top the leader boards after the first session of the Franklin and Marshall Invitational.

In the opening event, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Traci Hofer (Millville, NJ/Millville), Ashley Robb Blackwood, NJ/Gloucester Cathoic), Kayleigh Shangle (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park), and Laura Pierce (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) broke the meet record with a time of 138.30. Later in the session, Lions senior Mike Vernoia (Hillsborough, NJ/Immaculata) broke the meet record in 500-yard freestyle posting a time of 4:34.10.

The men's team leads the 10-team invitational with 247.5 points. Host Franklin and Marshall is in second place with 183 points and Rowan University ranks third with 122 points. They also won the first men's event of the day (200-yard freestyle relay) as Shawn Kircher (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North), Ryan Clark (Ocean City, NJ/St. Auguistine), Myles O'Connor (Los Angeles, CA/Santa Monica J.C.), and Adam Schneider (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) posted a time of 126.08. Schneider (21.68) and Kircher (21.78) also placed second and third in the 50-yard free.

The women's team leads their 13-team pool with 194 points. Kutztown University is not far behind with 177 points, and Washington College is currently in third with 113 points. Shangle, Pierce, and Hofer placed first (24.53, second (24.60), and fourth (24.80) in the 50-yard free.

The second session of the invitational is set for 6 p.m. this evening. The final leg will be Sunday morning beginning at 9 a.m.

Lions Diving Invitational - Diving results

At the second day of the Lions Diving Invitational, sophomore TJ Burns (Clarks Summitt, PA/Abington Heights) placed second and third in the 1- meter (6 dives) and 1-meter (11 dives) events. Burns posted scores of 277.4 and 433.6. Both scores are NCAA qualifiers.

Freshman Billy Cavallo (Vineland, NJ/Cumberland) also competed posting scores of 217.3 and 355.6. Matt Fitzgerald of Springfield College placed first in both events with tallies of 292.35 and 454.85.