Meet Results
MADISON, N.J.—Backed by 10 school-record performances, Sarah Lawrence College women's swimming triumphed as champion of the 2012 Ranger Invitational, hosted by Drew University from Friday through Sunday.
Sarah Lawrence beat out the host Rangers, College of Saint Elizabeth, Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham and Post University to improve on their runner-up finish last season.
On Friday, sophomore
Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif., La Reina) picked up wins in two events, taking first place in the 50 yard freestyle with a school-record mark of 25.76 seconds, surpassing her own team record. Peschke also toppled one of the oldest records on the Sarah Lawrence board, swimming 2:21.15 in the 200 yard individual medley to beat the previous best of 2:28.71 set in 2001. Both times were new Ranger Invitational bests.
Day two of the meet saw sophomores
Jay Pulitano (Mountain Lakes, N.J., Mountain Lakes) and
Natasha Leonard (Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, Kealakehe) take the top two spots on the podium in the 400 yard individual medley. After barely missing his own school record in the preliminaries (5:26.37), Pulitano touched the wall first in the final, while Leonard finished runner-up in 5:49.83.
Peschke broke her third Sarah Lawrence and Ranger Invitational record with a 200 yard freestyle swim of 2:02.36; she scratched from the final to focus on other events. Later, her rest paid dividends with a school and invitational record swim in the 100 yard backstroke (58.38).
Saturday's final event, the 800 yard freestyle relay, saw Peschke,
Sam Amberchan (Menlo Park, Calif., Menlo-Atherton), Pulitano and
Alexis Bates (Morristown, N.J., Morristown) set a Gryphon record of 9:16.47.
The final day of competition began with Bates surpassing the Gryphon best in the 1650 yard freestyle. The sophomore finished the mile-long swim in 20:42.84, placing second.
Peschke put up a mark of 2:10.41 to better her own record in the 200 yard backstroke and broke a nine-year-old best in the 100 freestyle by swimming a preliminary time of 54.70. She went on to scratch both final heats but not before setting invitational records in both events.
Amberchan got into the action in the 200 yard butterfly. The rookie smashed her own school record in the event by a 15-second margin, touching the wall in 2:49.28 for third place.
The meet concluded with Peschke, Amberchan, Pulitano and Bates setting a Green and White best in the 400 freestyle relay, as the foursome posted a time of 4:12.96.
Through the weekend's action, only five Sarah Lawrence school records have yet to be broken during the still-young 2012-13 season.
Sarah Lawrence breaks from competition to prepare for its next meet, a dual against William Paterson University set for Wed., Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.
Sarah Lawrence Records Broken| 50 Free | Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif./La Reina) | 25.76 |
| 100 Free | Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif./La Reina) | 54.76 |
| 200 Free | Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif./La Reina) | 2:02.36 |
| 1650 Free | Alexis Bates (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) | 20:42.84 |
| 100 Back | Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif./La Reina) | 58.38 |
| 200 Back | Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif./La Reina) | 2:10.41 |
| 200 Fly | Sam Amberchan (Menlo Park, Calif./Menlo-Atherton) | 2:49.28 |
| 200 IM | Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif./La Reina) | 2:21.15 |
| 400 Free Relay    | Peschke, Amberchan, Pulitano, Bates    | 4:12.96 |
| 800 Free Relay | Peschke, Amberchan, Pulitano, Bates | 9:16.47 |
