COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College men's swimming & diving first-year Pierce Farrington (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) set two school records in his college debut on Saturday, and both Purple Knight teams downed Colby-Sawyer College in their season openers in the Ross Sports Center natatorium. The women earned a 163-122 victory for their ninth straight win over the 1-1 Chargers, while the men picked up a 175-100 triumph to claim their seventh consecutive win over 0-2 Colby-Sawyer.
Farrington earned four wins on Saturday, including touching the wall in 27.80 during the 50-yard breaststroke to break assistant coach Logan St. Peter's '04 school mark (28.44) that was set on Feb. 20, 2004. While helping the 200-yard freestyle quartet to victory, Farrington led off with a 50 leg of 22.03, besting Doug Chance's record of 22.05 from the 1986-87 campaign. Farrington also anchoring the winning 200-yard medley relay foursome and won the open 50 free race.
Senior Nathan Paluso (Windham, Maine/Windham) also won four times, claiming the 100 breast, 1,000 free and 200-yard individual medley races, and swimming a leg for the 200 free relay. Sophomore Cam Thirkell (Tyngsboro, Mass./Tyngsboro) won the 50- and 100-yard butterfly events and nabbed a third win in the 200 medley relay. First-year Zach Kosakowski (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) won the 200 free and swam for the top 200 medley relay foursome while taking second in the 100-yard backstroke by just 0.1 seconds. Junior Nick Johns (Seaford, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) was on the winning 200 medley relay quartet while winning one one-meter diving competition and taking second in the other.
Senior Nick Youmans (Mountainside, N.J./Governor Livingston) won one one-meter diving event and placed second in the other during his college debut, and first-year Joe Carroll (Andover, Mass./Andover) won the 50 back and placed second in the 500 free. Sophomore Stephen Andersen (Concord, N.H./Concord) placed second in both the 100 fly and 200 free, and first-year Jacek Deptula (Haskell, N.J./Paramus Catholic) was the 100 free runner up.
Six women earned a pair of wins, with senior Kim Brady (Morris Township, N.J./Academy of Saint Elizabeth) notching a team-best four top-two finishes. She won the 100 free while anchoring the victorious 200 medley relay, in addition to taking second in the 50 fly and 50 free. In her debut with the squad, junior Julie Shea (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans Memorial/Assumption) won the 50 breast and 200 IM while taking second in the 100 breast to sophomore Lauren Wheaton (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) by just 0.08 seconds. Wheaton also swam for the top 200 medley relay foursome and placed second in the 50 breast.
Senior Steph Nadow (Charlton, Mass./Saint Peter-Marian) completed a leg for the top 200 medley relay quartet, won the 50 back and took second in the 100 back, trailing the winner by 0.31 seconds. First-year Theresa Murphy (Pittsfield, Mass./Pittsfield) topped the 50 fly field and joined Brady, Nadow and Wheaton to win the 200 medley relay. Classmate Betsy Portch (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) claimed the 500 free and 1,000 free races, with first-year Amy Garlesky (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) taking second in the 1,000 free.
First-year Ally Fischang (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) won the 200 free while joining sophomores Cymantha Rogers (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) and Katrina Wiesner (Bow, N.H./Bow) and first-year Katherine Lecce (Falls Church, Va./Saint Margaret's School) to place second in the 200 free relay. Junior Zoe Doucette (Ashland, Mass./Ashland) won the 100 fly, and first-year Genevieve Gigandet (Groveland, Mass./Central Catholic) was the runner up in both one-meter diving events.
The Purple Knights host Le Moyne College on Sunday at 1 p.m.
