PISCATAWAY, NJ – The Rutgers swimming and diving teams concluded their final pre-season meet this afternoon as competition at the Sonny Werblin Invitational came to a close.

Leading the way for the women’s swimming team were junior Liz Carter (West Covina, CA) and freshman Kelly Harrigan (Bristol, CT). Carter won four events in the Invitational, while Harrigan set a new school record in the 200 backstroke. Her time of 1:59.3 qualifies as a NCAA consideration time.

On the men’s side, junior Nathan Ilnicki (Crescent, PA) and sophomore Shawn Smith (Oklahoma City, OK) stood out. Smith took the top spot in four different events, while Ilnicki finished first in three events. A majority of swimmers from both the men’s and women’s squads swam times good enough to qualify them for the BIG EAST Championships.

Also tuning up for the regular season was the RU diving team. Senior Kelly Gerhardstein (Sandusky, OH) won both the one-meter and the three meter, while freshman Christopher Chabot (Litchfield, CT) won the one-meter and finished second on the three-meter.

The Sonny Werblin Invitational serves as the final pre-season meet before dual-meet competition in the regular season. The men’s and women’s teams will open the 2002-2003 season at BIG EAST rival West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 2, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Scarlet Knights will open at home on Saturday, Nov. 9, when they host Connecticut. RESULTS