The Allegheny men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened the 2015-16 season against Grove City College on Saturday, Oct. 24. The men won 149.5-129.5, while the women lost 156-137.

The team was focused and reached its goals for the first competition.

Julianne Reed, ’19, won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:02:28. Reed said she was happy with the results of the competition. Her victory got Allegheny one of the top three spots in the event.

Reed values the hard work of team so far and said she is pleased with her performance. Even though the women’s team could not defeat Grove City, they view the results as a success overall.

“We focused on working hard and kept going,” Reed said.

The men’s team also posted several individual wins. Frank Chen, ’18, Jack Bailey, ’17, and Matthew Nardozzi, ’19, all had first place finishes. Chen won a total of three events at the meet, taking first in the 100 and 200 backstroke as well as the 200 butterfly. The men’s team victory over Grove City was the first in three years. Nardozzi reached three additional first places and was nominated as Gator athlete of the week.

“It was a pretty good start,” Reed said. “We did a lot better against Grove City than last year.”

Head Coach Kirk Kumbier prepared the men’s and women’s team for the first meet. Next to challenging athletic goals all members also set individual academic goals within their schedule to provide a strong academic base. During practice the team is divided into three groups based on competition events.

“In the pool everybody improves and we focus a lot on speed and power,” Kumbier said.

Rebecca Porter, ’19, outlined the goals the team set for the first competition. Porter said she enjoyed Saturday’s defeat against Grove City and felt good about the team’s performance, as well as her own.

“We are doing pretty well. We are trying to go as fast as we can,” Porter said.

The teams are motivated to keep and reach good results during the upcoming season and to improve further. The team will keep working to improve in competitions.

Looking forward, Kumbier wants to build upon the positive results reached so far.

“Building on what we’ve been in the past and even setting the bar higher. There is a whole year ahead of us. We have a long way to go,” Kumbier said.

In their next competition the Allegheny swimming and diving teams will compete at the Chatham Invitational in Pittsburgh on Saturday Oct. 31 at 12 p.m.