CNBNews

Piscataway, NJ…The College of New Jersey’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened action on Friday at the 2008 Metropolitan Conference Championships at Rutgers University’s Sonny A. Werblin Recreation Center. The three-day event will wrap on Sunday night. A year ago, TCNJ’s men’s team won the team crown, while the Lion women’s squad picked up the runner-up crown in the Division III competition.
TCNJ’s men’s team has posted 96 points to stand in 1st place in a field of 14 teams, while the Lion women have amassed 119 points and stand in 1st place in the 16-team field.

Men’s Highlights
Competing in the trials of the 200 individual medley, senior Liam Gallagher (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) broke TCNJ’s school mark in the event with his time of 1:53.37 to seed him second heading into Friday night’s finals, while also posting an NCAA provisional time in the process. He surpassed the mark set in 1997 by Matt Stypul of 1:53.41.  In the finals, Gallagher posted a time of    1:52.74 bettering his own school mark as he won the race.
Also posting an impressive fourth place finish in the 200 IM was junior Mike Heaney (Voorhees, NJ/Bishop Eustace) in 1:55.16 for an NCAA provisional time cut.
In the 50 freestyle, junior Thomas Nawrot (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) won the trials with his NCAA provisional time of 21.06 and posted a 1st 20.90 time of in the finals to take home    first place. Senior Josh Forsman (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) added a third place finish in 21.40    in the same event, while freshman Shawn Kircher (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) posted as time of 21.51, while sophomore Myles O’Connor (Santa Monica, CA) posted a time of 21.85.
Rookie Tom Medvecky (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) posted the fastest trial time in the 500 freestyle as he swam a 4:39.73 and bettered that effort with an NCAA provisional time in the finals as he won the race in 4:35.68, which also broke TCNJ’s school record set in 2007 by Mike Molloy (4:37.48).  Freshman Tim Rauch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) and junior Mike Molloy (Toms River, N/Toms River East) added a pair of fourth place finishes in the event in as the pair both posted times of 4:41.86.
In the 400 medley relay, the Lions broke another school record while also posting an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the finals of 3:23.76 to better TCNJ’s mark in the event set in 2004 (3:24.80). Swimming on the championship relay foursome were Nawrot, O’Connor, Forsman, and Gallagher. another
TCNJ won the 200 freestyle relay with their impressive time of 1:23.42 behind the efforts of Nawrot, Gallagher, Forsman and Kircher.
In the men’s one meter diving competition, TCNJ’s junior Greg Lloyd (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central) picked up 4th place.

Women’s Highlights

TCNJ’s senior Ava Kiss (North Brunswick, NJ/Stuart Country Day) paced the team after posting the third fastest time in the trials of the 200 IM with a 2:12.14 and posted a second place finish in the finals after posting an NCAA B time cut of 2:07.51 to also break the school mark set in 1993 (2:08.12) by Jennifer Harnett, the Lions’ current head coach. Also competing in the event for the Lions were sophomore Stephanie Seto (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) as she picked up fifth place in 2:14.26, while junior Brittany Collyer (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) placed sixth in the race in 2:14.92.
TCNJ’s rookie Margaret Molloy (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) also had a strong showing in the 500 freestyle after finishing in third place in 5:06.70, to post a school record time and earn an NCAA provisional time cut. She bettered the school record of 5:07.37 set in 2003 by Jennifer Sebastian.
Competing in the 400 medley relay, the Lions picked up third place in 4:00.59, just hundredth of seconds off TCNJ’s school record and an NCAA provisional time. The Lions were seeded third heading into the finals after posting a time of 4:10.09 behind the efforts of junior Stacy Delehanty (Oceanport, NJ/Shore Regional), senior Lauren Pfeifer (Freehold, NJ/Red Bank Catholic), Kiss and Molloy.
The Lions were also led on the night by the foursome that competed in the 200 freestyle relay as they placed fourth in 1:40.43. They were led by freshman Melissa Wallace (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen), senior Kristin Udicious (Cherry Hill, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), rookie Michele Wilson (Millville, NJ/Millville), and Pfeifer after they posted a trial time of 1:41.18.
In the three meter diving event, freshman Amanda Obst (Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May Regional) posted a second place finish, while sophomore Jessica Lynch (Thorofare, NJ/West Deptford)   took home ninth place.
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