Schedule/Scores | Team Roster | Coach Profile | View 2007-08 Highlights | School Records
Outlook/Recap
l2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships
Knights Shave Seconds off Seed Times at Sunday Preliminaries
WILKES-BARRE, PA: 2/15/09 - Four Arcadia Swimmers toppled their seeding qualifying times in Sunday's preliminary rounds at the 2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships.
Jason Sharpe erased nearly 11 seconds form his qualifying time in the 200 Butterfly, taking 14th overall in 2:16.48. Kayla Kroll placed 19th in the women's 200 Butterfly (2:39.04). John Konieczny placed 14th in the 200 Breaststroke (2:30.44) shaving nearly 7 seconds off his qualifying time. Steve Haasis also beat his best time in the 200 Backstroke by 7 seconds (2:15.24) capturing 14th place while Stephanie Bartolotta set a new personal best in the 100 Breaststroke finishing 19th (2:51.34).
Jessica Parker swam the 100 Free in 59.00 to take 14th overall while Haasis (19:17.39) and Aaron Knock (20:01.13) placed 8th and 10th respectively in the 1650 Freestyle.
The following Knights are seeded 7th in this evening's B-Finals: Steve Haasis (200 Backstroke), Jessica Parker (100 Free), John Konieczny (200 Breaststroke) and Jason Sharpe (200 Butterfly). Sharpe, Steven Neafsey, Knock and Konieczny will compete in the final event of the championship, the 400 Freestyle Relay where they are seeded 5th in the consolation heat.
Complete results from Sunday's preliminaries as well as the meet program for Sunday's finals are available on the championship website above.
Knights Wrap up Saturday Finals at Championships
WILKES-BARRE, PA: 2/14/09 - Arcadia University Men's Swimming concluded Saturday's final rounds through the first 24 events, picking up 59 points to improve to 8th place overall and overtaking Elizabethtown College in the process. Widener continues to hold a sizeable lead over the 10 team field on the mens' side while Misericordia has moved in front of defending champion Albright on the women's side.
For the Knights, both relay squads comprised of John Konieczny, Jason Sharpe, Aaron Knock and Steve Haasis, earned 7th place times. The team touched out in the B-Final of the 200 Medley Relay in 1:47.17 and swam the 800 Freestyle Relay in 8:01.47. Konieczny's B-Final 4th place finish in the 100 Breaststroke led the Knights through today's individual events; the senior captain timed in at 1:07.25. Sharpe finished 6th in the B-Final of 200 Freestyle (1:53.75), Haasis earned 7th in the B-Final of the 100 Backstroke (1:03.15) while Knock took 8th in the B-Final of the 100 Butterfly (59.28).
Knock and Haasis will kick off Sunday's preliminary round swimming the 1650 Freestyle before Haasis goes right back to work in the 200 Backstroke. Jessica Parker will participate in the women's 100 Freestyle while Neafsey rounds out tomorrow morning's preliminaries, swimming the 200 Butterfly.
Complete results from Saturday finals, as well as Sunday's preliminary meet program are available on the championship website above.
Konieczny Leads Knights in Saturday Preliminary Action
WILKES-BARRE, PA: 2/14/09 - Senior John Konieczny earned an 11th place finish in the 100 Breaststroke (1:07.55) to lead the Knights in this morning's preliminary round at the 2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships at the Wyoming Valley CYC in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
In other preliminary round action, Jason Sharpe earned an 14th place finish in the 200 Freestyle (1:54.47), Aaron Knock finished 16th in the 100 Butterfly (59.54), Steve Haasis took 16th in the 100 Backstroke (1:02.08), while Steve Neafsey placed 19th in the 100 Butterfly (1:01.35). Stephanie Bartolotta finished in 18th in both the 100 Breaststroke (1:18.98) and the 200 Freestyle (2:11.79) while Kayla Kroll took 22nd in the 100 Butterfly (1:12.19).
Haasis, Konieczny, Knock and Sharpe will compete in Heat 1 of the 200 Medley Relay against LVC and Elizabethtown before closing out Saturday's final program as the #8 seeded team in the 800 Free Relay. Knock will compete as the #8 seed in the Heat 1-B Final of the 100 Butterfly. Sharpe will be the #7 seed in the Heat1-B Final of the 200 Freestyle while Haasis will compete as the #8 seed in the Heat1-B Final of the 100 Backstroke.
Widener scored 229 points on Friday to lead the men's team standings with Albright (197.5) and Misericordia (167) round out the top three. Albright (191) and Misericordia (190) are in a battle for the women's championship title with Lycoming (153) currently in third. Arcadia Men's Swimming is in 9th place with 42 points.
Complete results from Saturday preliminaries, as well as tonight's finals meet program are available on the championship website above.
Knights Wrap up Preliminaries, Prepare for Finals
WILKES-BARRE, PA: 2/13/09 - Arcadia University Swimming swam through Friday afternoon's preliminary rounds and are set for tonight's finals at the 2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships at the Wyoming Valley CYC in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Starting off this evening's events will be the combination of Aaron Knock, Steve Haasis, Steve Neafsey and Jason Sharpe in the men's 200 Freestyle Relay in Heat 1 against Lebanon Valley and King's. Sharpe will then compete in the B Final of the men's 200 Yard IM. Rounding out Friday's competition will be Haasis, John Konieczny, Neafsey and Knock, swimming together in Heat 1 of the men's 400 Yard Medley Relay against LVC and Messiah.
Konieczny will be an alternate in the men's 500 Yard Freestyle while Jessica Parker will serve as an alternate in the women's 50 Freestyle.
Complete results from Friday's preliminaries, as well as tonight's finals meet program are available on the championship website above.
Knights to host 2009 MAC Swimming Championships
GLENSIDE, PA: 2/9/09 - Arcadia University will host the 2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships, to be held Friday, February 13 through Sunday, February 15 at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center (CYC) in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Friday preliminaries will be announced on the official website for this year's championships, which will be updated throughout the weekend as results are available.
Arcadia University would like to thank the athletic training staff at Misericordia University for providing on site athletic training services for this year's championships along with the conference office staff and Wyoming Valley CYC staff.
Representing the Knights this weekend will be: senior John Konieczy, junior Steven Neafsey, sophomores Jason Sharpe and Steve Haasis and first year Aaron Knock for the men and sophomore Stephanie Bartolotta and first years Kayla Kroll and Jess Parker for the women.
Konieczny, Sharpe Golden in Knights Final Home Meet
GLENSIDE, PA: 1/19/09 - Tonight's Middle Atlantic Conference dual meet between host Arcadia University and visiting Lebanon Valley College began a day late but senior John Konieczny and sophomoreJason Sharpe where right on time with two first place victories and a new school record in a tough 112-69 loss for the men's squad. Arcadia's women competed in a respectable 112-77 loss to the Lady Dutchmen to close out the regular season.
For the men, the Knights placed third or better in six events against a deep LVC squad. Highlighting the 7 PM start was Arcadia's 1st place win in the opening 200 Medley Relay that featured senior captain John Konieczny in his final collegiate home meet, along with Steve Haasis, Steve Neafsey and Sharpe, victorious by more than two seconds to second place LVC. Sharpe, who swam the final leg of the relay, went right back to work in the 1000 Free and outperformed the Arcadia program record in that event by .26, setting a new school record of 11:17.65. The Dutchmen claimed the 1-2-3 in the both the 200 and 50 Free before Adrian Chan and Neafsey acounted for a pair of silvers in the 200 IM (Chan-2:42.07) and in a heated 100 Fly (Neafsey-1:03.67) where 1-2-3 were all one second apart. Haasis was a body length short of first in the 100 Back (1:03.45)) and in the final event before LVC had enough points to coast to the win, Konieczny made it an event inside of Lenox Pool in the 500 Free (5:31.24), outmuscling his second place opponent by 8 seconds to close out his career with individual and relay wins.
On the women's squad, the Knights rallied around each other against an experienced and deep LVC team. First year Elly Fernandez and sophoore CJ Lacy pushed each other in their individual events. Fernandez (2:33.38) beat out Lacy (2:33.58) for second by .20 in the 200 Free but then Lacy (1:19.43) had nearly three seconds on Fernandez (1:22.56) for first in the 100 Backstroke. The Knights best time all evening came from first year Jessica Parker who toughed out a victory in the 50 Free (27.50), nabbing first just .32 ahead of her opponent. Amalie Kreitman ended the night with a second and third place showing (200 IM/ 2:46.83/3rd and 500 Free/6:36.73/2nd) while Kayla Kroll swam a second place 100 Fly in 11:11 flat. Overall, the women scored third or better in 9 events against the Dutchmen and proved both squads are ready to compete at the MAC Championships next weekend. Knights who have qualified for next weekend's championship at the CYC in Wilkes Barre, PA will be announced here when available.
Lycoming Sweeps Knights in Middle Atlantic Dual
Williamsport, PA: 1/24/09 - Lycoming College Men's and Women's Swimming, undefeated in their last four outings, made it five in row for both teams as the Warriors defeated Arcadia University on Saturday in a dual Middle Atlantic Conference meet. Arcadia's men, led by senior John Konieczny and first year Adrien Chan and sophomore Jason Sharpe earned the Knights top times of the day, in a 151-80 loss for their team. On the women's side for Arcadia, sophomore Steph Bartolotta and first year Kayla Kroll were tops in a 150-70 loss to the Warriors.
Konieczny's second place time in the 100 Breaststroke (1:12.37) was the best individual finish for the Knights while Sharpe added a pair of third place times, first in the 200 Freestyle (1:59.82) and then in the 200 Butterfly (2:25.70). Chan pulled out a third place win in the 50 Freestyle (26.74).
For the women, Bartolotta took a second place time in the 200 Breaststroke (2:54.11) and third place finish 100 Breaststroke (1:21.99) to lead the Knights. Kroll earned second in the 200 Butterfly (2:36.99).
One conference dual meet remains on the Knights schedule that sees Lebanon Valley College visit Glenside on Tuesday. Middle Atlantic Conference Championship action will follow on February 13-14 at the CYC in Wilkes Barre, PA.
Knights Split with Elizabethtown; Men Win in a Barnburner
GLENSIDE, PA: 1/20/09 - Arcadia University split a dual Middle Atlantic Conference meet Tuesday evening as the men's squad (2-7/2-2 MAC) battled the Blue Jays all night in a back and forth barnburner, eventually putting the fire out in the final individual event, the 100 Breaststroke, to top Elizabethtown 83-78. Arcadia's women (0-8-1/0-2-1 MAC) fell 138-54 victims to a powerful Elizabethtown squad that improved to 7-5 overall and 5-2 against MAC opponents. Elizabethtown's men fell to 2-10 overall and 2-5 in the MAC with tonight's loss.
Up 39-36 at the first break, Arcadia junior Steven Neafsey battled Elizabethtown's Matt Drob in a dual 100 Fly, finishing second which put the Blue Jays in front 45-43. Sophomore Jason Sharpe would go on to swim a textbook Freestyle in the 100 Free for Arcadia, leading the entire race to finish first in 54.22 that put the Knights back in front 55-49. The Blue Jays battled back to within one point, (67-66 Knights) with two events remaining but allowed the Knights to swim the final individual event, the 100 Breaststroke, uncontested and a one-two finish by senior John Konieczny (1:19.29) and first year Ben Zee (1:25.69) sealed the win for the Arcadia , 83-78.
The Knights travel to Lycoming College for their second to final Middle Atlantic dual meet this Saturday at 1 PM. They will close out the regular season next Tuesday at home against Lebanon Valley College, 7 PM.
Swimmers Fall in Dual Loss to King's
GLENSIDE, PA: 1/17/09 - King's College Men's and Women's swimming visited Glenside Saturday afternoon and returned to Wilkes-Barre with a dual meet sweep over the Knights of Arcadia University. King's women topped the Knights 164-80 while King's men posted a 128-93 win over Arcadia.
Arcadia's men remained hot on the tails of the Monarchs thru the first seven events, fuled by thier first top time of the day complements of freshman Steve Haasis, who won the 100 Backstroke in 1:03.96. A two-three punch in the 100 Breaststroke from senior John Konieczny (1:12.20) and freshman Aaron Knock (1:16.63) gave AU much needed points, with Konieczny outpaced by only .24 for first. Junior Steve Neafsey cruised to an easy first place time in the 200 Fly (2:35.21) which brought Arcadia to within 11 of the Monarchs, 59-48, but King's would go onto dominate, taking 6 of the next 8 first place times to secure the 128-93 win over host Arcadia. In those remaining events, Haasis earned another gold medal time in the 200 Backstroke (2:24.06) and sophomore Jason Sharpe placed first in the 400 IM (4:57.42).
Arcadia's women fell behind early and by Event 7, the 100 Backstroke, King's had built up a comfortable 62-20 advantage. Top performers for Arcadia included sophomore Stephanie Bartolotta and first year Caitlin Culhane, finishing 1-2 in the 100 Breststroke (1:12.84 - 1:23.23). Bartolotta continued to dominate the Breaststroke, winning the 200 in 2:56.87. Other second place finishers for the Knights comprised of first year Amalie Kreitman (13:36.38 / 1000 Free), first year Kayla Kroll (2:39.31 / 200 Fly), sophomore CJ Lacy (2:52.24 / 200 Back) and Bartolotta in the 200 Free (2:10.75), but the Lady Monarchs remained in front the entire way and went onto win 164-80.
Arcadia will host Middle Atlantic opponent Elizabethtown January 20th at 6 PM in Lenox Pool.
Ocean County Tops Knights in Non-Conference Meet
TOMS RIVER, NJ: 1/11/09 - Ocean County College hosted Arcadia University Swimming in the first meet of the new year, and topped the Knights in both the men's (128-47) and women's (109-71) events. Arcadia, winless since November 8th, lost a talented core of swimmers to Study Abroad this semester, will look to a handful of veterans but mostly youth as they battle against four Commonwealth opponents to close the season. King's College will visit Glenside this Saturday for a 1 PM meet, followed by Elizabethtown on Tuesday, January 20.
Jason Sharpe topped the performances in the men's events as his second place (1:58.66) finish in the 200 Freestyle was just one second off pace from first place Ocean County. Sharpe played a key role on the men's 200 Medley Relay squad, teaming up with Steve Haasis, John Konieczny and Aaron Knock to touch for second one second in front of third place Ocean County. Other top performers included Ron Perzinski in the 500 Freestyle (7:14.78) and Konieczny in the 200 Breaststroke (2:38.04). Adrian Chan, Perzinski, Ben Zee and Steve Neafsey swam the 200 Free Relay in 1:49.73, uncontested by Ocean County.
Stephanie Bartolotta earned a pair of first place times in the 50 Free (28.37) and the 200 Breaststroke (2:53.85) while Amalie Kreitman took a pair of second place times in the 1000 Free (13:40.89) and in the 500 Free (6:45.22). Kayla Kroll touched for first in the 200 Fly (2:36.44) while Caitlin Lacy nabbed second in the 200 Freestyle (2:34.22) and Caitlin Culhane third (2:59.92) to round out the top individual performances for Arcadia's women. Bartolotta, Kreitman, Melissa Yaeger and Amanda Ricci teamed up for an uncontested first place time in the 200 Free Relay (2:04.10) to close out the meet.
Caveliers Top Knights in Dual Meet Action
Radnor, PA: 12/13/08 - The Cabrini College Caveliers topped Arcadia Swimming in a dual meet on Saturday, December 13. While Arcadia's men earned three first place finishes against the Cavs, losing 99-70, the Cavelier women swept all 11 events over the Knights to earn a convincing 122-70 victory.
Leading the Knights were Aaron Knock, Steve Haasis and the 400 Free Relay team of Knock, Ronald Perzinski, Benjamin Zee and Steve Neafsey. Knock touched the wall first in the 1000 Freestyle, topping Cabrini's Sean Corrigan by three seconds with a winning time of 12.19.60. In the 100 Freestyle, Haasis grabbed a narrow first place, touching out in 1:03.13, just a second and change over Carbrini's second place finisher. Cabrini's 400 Free Relay team rendered a disqualification allowing the Knights' team to take first place points in 4:06.17. Arcadia's Jason Sharpe took home two second place finishes on the day, the 200 Freestyle (1:57.94) and the 100 Freestyle (53.55).
For the women, Danielle DiSanto captured the squads' lone individual silver, placing second in the 200 Individual Medley in 2:34.45. Other top performers for the Arcadia women included CJ Lacy, finishing third in the 100 Backstroke (1:20.58) and Steph Bartolotta third in the 100 Breaststroke in 1:20.09. As a team, the Knights earned second in the closing 400 Free Relay as Amanda Ricci, Melissa Yaeger, Caitlin Culhane and Amalie Kreitman teamed for a time of 4:45.85.
The Knights return to action in the new year with their next home meet against King's College, a Middle Atlantic opponent on January 17th at 1 PM. Arcadia's away meet against Ocean County Community College has been rescheduled for January 11 at noon.
Bryn Mawr Evades Knights in Women's Non-Conference Swimming
Glenside, PA: 12/3/08 - Bryn Mawr owned a 81-79 lead heading into tonight's final event, the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, and surmounted Arcadia's lead through the first three legs until Bryn Mawr's Hannah Davis passed by Arcadia's Amanda Ricci in the final 100 yards to lift the Owls of Bryn Mawr to a narrow team victory over the Knights of Arcadia 101-90 in local non-conference women's swimming action. With tonight's loss, the Knights fall to 0-5-1 overall while the Owls (1-6) earn their first win of the season.
The Owls, swimming with just seven on their roster, jumped in front after the opening 200 Medley Relay and would go onto to claim the next two individual events before Lauren Myers gave Arcadia their first top time in the 50 Freestyle (28.27). While Bryn Mawr refused to tire, taking first in the next four events, Arcadia followed closely behind, nabbing second in the 200 IM, 100 Fly, 100 Free and 100 Back. Danielle DiSanto swam a time of 2:38.36 in the 200 IM, Gina Ruppert took silver in the 100 Fly in 1:10.72, Myers was .28 shy of first in the 100 Free (1:02.07) while Kayla Kroll finished second in the 100 Back (1:16.09).
Needing a one-two finish in the second to last event, the 100 Breast and a first place finish in the final relay, the Knights rallied when they needed to, capturing the one-two in the 100 Breaststroke behind Gina Ruppert (1st - 6:19.67) and Amalie Kreitman (2nd - 6:35.50). Down just two, Arcadia's 200 Freestyle Relay team of Melissa Yaeger, Holly Hamilton, CJ Lacy, and Ricci did all they could to position themselves for their first win of the year, but Bryn Mawr's Davis spoiled the celebration in the final 100 yards, surpassing Ricci to give the Owls the victory.
The Knights return to action with a dual meet at non-conference Cabrini College on December 13 at 11 AM.
Knights Unable to Solve Goucher, Suffer Second Straight Loss
Glenside, PA: 11/22/08 - Plagued by a dwindled lineup, the Knights suffered their second straight loss this afternoon to Landmark Conference member Goucher College, 125-54 in the women's events and 119-37 in the men's events. While the short-staffed Knights drop to 1-3 (men) and 0-3-1 (women), Arcadia's younger team members got a chance to perform in today's non-conference collegiate action.
Goucher got right to work, taking all 15 points out of the women's 200 Medley Relay while earning an uncontested 11 points in the men's 200 Medley Relay and never looked back. In fact, the Gophers swept all of the first place times on the afternoon with one exception, in the women's 100 Butterfly, which was won by Arcadia sophomore Gina Ruppert in 1:09.84. Ruppert also took home a second place finish this afternoon, touching out in the 1000 Freestyle in 13:06.60.
Second place performers for Arcadia's women also included first year Caitlin Culhane (1:10.01/100 Free), junior Jennifer Alfano (1:13.37/100 Backstroke), first year Amanda Ricci (7:47.59/500 Freestyle) and sophomore Melissa Yaeger (1:34.50/100 Breaststroke).
For the men, sophomore Will Ruocco placed second in his three events on the afternoon, a 26.96 time in the 50 Freestyle, 2:30.81 in the 200 IM and 1:13.26 in the 100 Breaststroke. Junior Steven Neafsey captured second place in the 200 Freestyle (2:13.32) and the 100 Butterfly (1:03.79) while first year Benjamin Zee earned second place in the 100 Freestyle (1:00.78) and first year Adrian Chan second in the 500 Freestyle (7:14.99).
Arcadia's women will look to compete for their first win of the season following the Thanksgiving break when they host non-conference Bryn Mawr College on Wednesday, December 3 at 6 PM in the Lenox Pool. The Knights return to dual-meet action on Decmebr 13th at Cabrini College.
Arcadia Swimmers Defeated by William Paterson University
Wayne, NJ: 11/19/08 - Arcadia Men's & Women's Swimming dropped a dual non-conference meet on the road Wednesday evening at William Paterson University. The women's team (0-3 overall/0-1-1 MAC) fell by a score of 102-85 while the men (1-2/1-1 MAC) were defeated 108-53.
Earning first place finishes for the Knights were first years Aaron Knock (12:32.32) and Caitlin Culhane (14:46.45) in the 1000 Freestyle. Second place finishers were first year Jessica Parker in the 50 Freestyle (27.31), junior Stephen Neafsey in the 100 Butterfly (1:01.18) and sophomore Amanda Ricci in the 100 Freestyle (1:02.96). Four Knights captured top three times, first year Amalie Kreitman in the 200 Freestyle (2:30.18), sophomore Jason Sharpe in the 200 Freestyle (2:00.75), Gina Ruppert in the 100 Butterfly (1:09.90) and sophomore Holly Hamilton in the 100 Freestyle (1:11.65).
William Paterson build up enough of a lead on both sides to begin swimming exhibition by event 15, the 100 Backstroke.
Arcadia hosts their first dual home meet of the season this Saturday against Goucher College at 1 PM.
Swimmers Defeated by Albright
Reading, PA: 11/15/08 - Arcadia Men's & Women's Swimming dropped a dual meet decision to the Lions of Albright College at Saturday's Middle Atlantic Conference meet in Reading, PA. The Albright Men topped Arcadia 108-74 while the Albright women earned a 102-76 win over the Knights.
The Lions got right to work, winning the the opening men's and women's leg of the 400 Yard Medley Relay. In fact, Albright didn't allow Arcadia a top time through the first 16 events, when they began swimming exhibition with the meet all but over on the scoreboard.
Arcadia's top performers included, Jason Sharpe's pair of 2nd place times in the 200 Free (1:59.72) and (2:24.21) in the 200 IM. Jessica Parker nearly missed out on the first place points in the 50 Free, but Albright's Kathryn Oeste outlasted Parker by .45. Parker finished in 26.85. Danielle DiSanto earned second place in the 200 IM (2:36.12).
The Knights are hoping to pick up a dual meet win this Wednesday when they travel to William Patterson University for a 6 PM start.
Men's Swimming Earn First Win as Women Tie FDU
Madison, NJ: 11/8/08 - Arcadia University Men's Swimming needed only their second meet of the season to earn their first win, counting both overall and in the Middle Atlantic standings as the Knights defeated FDU-Florham, 99-49 in the men's events. The Arcadia Women's squad missed out on their first win following a questionable disqualification, ending with a 102 tie with the Red Devils of FDU-Florham. The women now stand at 0-1-1 overall and 0-0-1 in the MAC.
The Arcadia women got things started with a win in the opening 200 Yard Medley Relay. Junior Jen Alfano, sophomores Danielle DiSanto and Steph Bartolotta and first year Jessica Parker crushed their opponents finishing 15 seconds ahead of second place FDU in 2:09.21. Out of that group came four first place individual performances. Jessica Parker touched for first place in the 50 Free (26.56) and in the 100 Free (58.35). Danielle DiSanto captured first in the 100 Butterfly (1:09.60) while Bartolotta outpaced her nearest competitor by a minute, winning the lengthy 1000 Free in 12:54.47 . The women would go on to earn 9 combined second and third place times, scoring points in all 11 events to pull out the 201-151 victory.
Four individual first place wins and an uncontested win in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay highlighted the men's events for the Knights. First years Aaron Knock, Benjamin Zee and Steve Haasis and sophomore Will Ruocco provided first place points against a diminished FDU squad. Knock took home first in the 50 Free (25.00), Zee in the 100 Free (1.0094), Haasis in the 100 Backstroke (1:02.72) and Ruocco in the 100 Breastroke (1:14.89). Sophomore Jason Sharpe, junior Steven Neafsey, Haasis with senior John Konieczny anchoring the group combined to win the 200 Freestyle Relay in 1:42.56, uncontested by FDU. The men combined for 14 second and third place points to capture the 99-49 over the Red Devils.
Arcadia returns to action this Saturday at Albright College for a 2 PM start.
2008-2009 Arcadia University Men's & Women's Swimming Season Preview
Arcadia Swimming. There are both men’s and women’s events, but all play for one entity: Arcadia Swimming. They pride themselves on their unity and this year, both teams have something to prove. Second year Head Coach Stephen Rote agrees: “Last season was a stepping stone towards the future we would like to build for Arcadia Swimming. We broke numerous school records and showed the conference that we are one of the up and coming teams.”
Both the men and the women lost four-year standouts due to graduation which will no doubt be a big early season void to fill. The women will miss Michelle McCandless ‘08, who was named to the MAC Second Team and graduated with several school records. For the men, the Knights say goodbye to the lengthy and strong Brendan Peters ’08, who backboned the men’s lineup for the past four years. Other graduated swimmers include LJ Morgan ’08 and Bryan Alexander ‘08, both of whom, along with Peters, placed in the 2008 conference championships. As a team, Arcadia Swimming set 14 new school records at the championships in 2008, with the women finishing in 9th place (60 points) and the men in 7th (167) in the nine-team field.
For the 2008-09 season, they would like to continue building on that success with 14 returning to the team, all with experience in both short and long distance. Four are featured on the men’s squad, and Coach Rote expects all of them to qualify for conference playoffs and place. They include senior and team captain John Konieczny (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan), junior Steve Neafsey (Admore, PA/Lower Merion), and sophomores Jason Sharpe (Burlington, NJ/Shawnee) and Will Ruocco (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp. Memorial). Konieczny and Sharpe helped to lead the men’s relay team into the MAC championships, culminating in a new school record in the 800 Freestyle Relay. Neafsey and Ruocco bring even further consistency to the Knights team in both short, distance and relay events.
The women have ten swimmers returning this season, including an intact 200 Free Relay team that competed consistently with each other last season. The women’s squad, flanked by four juniors and six returning sophomores give this team depth and experience against the many competitive conference teams. The juniors feature Jen Alfano (Reading,PA/Sinking Springs) who Rote expects to qualify for the post-season, Tamar Paltin (King of Prussia,PA/Upper Merion), C.J. Lacy (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area), and Nicole Henninger (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman). The sophomores are Steph Bartolotta (South Brunswick,NJ/South Brunswick), who Coach Rote also expects to both qualify and place in conference playoffs, Danielle Disanto (Sicklerville,NJ/Timber Creek), Gina Ruppert (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown), Sam Sunbury (Southington,CT/Southington), Lauren Meyers (Lancaster,PA/Hempfield), and Holly Hamilton (Blackwood,NJ/Triton). Myers, Ruppert, Alfano and DiSanto led the relay teams well into last season, and with Hamilton and Paltin also returning with relay experience, the women’s squad will look to place a relay team in the conference championship in 2009.
The men and women both have quite a few newcomers to the team as well, many of whom are expected to contribute to the team and even qualify for conferences. On the men’s side there is junior Benjamin Zee (Beachwood, NJ/toms River-South), sophomore RJ Perzinski (Forest Hill, MD/York Country Day School), and freshmen Steve Haasis (Ridely Park,PA/Ridley) Andrew Buczkowski, Aaron Knock (Glenside,PA/Abington), and Adrian Chan(Lincoln,RI/Lincoln). For the women, Rote names juniors Kayla Kroll (Middletown,DE/Middletown), Amanda Ricci (Robbinsville,NJ/Allentown), and Melissa Yaeger (Stratford,NJ) and freshmen Jessica Parker (Hillsborough,NJ/Hillsborough), Caitlin Culhane (West New York,NJ/Memorial), Amalie Kreitman (Hillsborough,NJ/Hillsborough), and Elly Fernandez (Bernville,PA/Tulpehocken).
The 2008-09 Knights had their opening meet against Ursinus College on Wednesday, November 5th. While both the men and women came back with losses, freshman Jessica Parker showcasing two first place finishes in the 50 and 100 Freestyle races for the women while for the men, John Konieczny just missed a first place win in the 200 Free. Both teams travel to FDU-Florham on Saturday, November 8th for their first Middle Atlantic Conference meet of the year at 1 PM.
Swimmers Open 2008-09 Season at Ursinus
Reading, PA: 11/5/08 - Arcadia University Swimming traveled to non-conference opponent Ursinus College Wednesday evening, returning with a pair of losses but not before first year Jessica Parker showcased two first place wins in the 50 and 100 Freestyles, the first collegiate wins of her career. The men's squad dropped a 106-75 decision while the women fell by a 113-81 point margin.
Following the first three events for the women, Ursinus had already built a sizable 44-8 lead but in the women's fourth event, the 50 Free, Arcadia first year Jessica Parker claimed the Knights first top place win of the meet in 26.97 before outpacing Ursinus swimmers in the 100 Free in 59.60. With the score 113-50, Ursinus began competiting as exhibition allowing the Knights to make up some points until the squads settled at 113-81 as the women's final. Ursinus improves to 2-0 while the Arcadia Women begin the year 0-1.
On the men's side, Ursinus took a slight lead over the Knights 6-13 after the third event. Senior John Konieczny just missed a first place win in the 200 Free as Ursinus' Ryan Kennedy outpaced him 1:59.42 to 2:01.01. The men would eventually settle for a 106-75 decision in favor of Ursinus who improved to 2-0. The Arcadia men begin the year 0-1.
Both Knight squads travel to FDU-Florham this Saturday for their first Middle Atlantic Conference meet of the year at 1 PM.
