MORGANTOWN, WV – The Rutgers men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened the season with a sweep of West Virginia on Saturday. The men defeated the Mountaineers, 170-122, while the women recorded a 188-107 victory.

Junior captain Nathan Ilnicki (Crescent, PA) won the 100 breaststroke event with a BIG EAST A qualifying time of 58.47. Ilnicki also placed first in the 200 IM with a BIG EAST B time of 1:56.10.

Senior Mike Kush (Wescosville, PA) took the 100 freestyle event over junior Matt Campbell (Haddonfield, NJ) with a BIG EAST A time of 46.42. Campbell swam a B time of 47.27 to finish second. Campbell took top honors over Kush in the 50 freestyle with an A time of 20.96, while Kush swam a 21.23.

The men took the top two spots in the 200 freestyle as sophomore Ivan Morse (Pleasanton, CA) won with a BIG EAST A qualifying time of 1:41.67, while fellow sophomore Josh Van Norman (San Diego, CA) placed second, swimming the event in 1:43.40, good enough for a BIG EAST B qualifying time.

Junior Sean Smith (Oklahoma, OK) and freshman Tyler Clark (Granada Hills, CA) both swam BIG EAST A qualifying times Saturday, finishing second and third in the 200 butterfly. Smith finished in a time of 1:53.10, while Clark swam 1:53.58.

Freshman Eric Jennings (Edmond, OK) won the 200 breaststroke with a BE A time of 2:08.54. Both the Rutgers men and the women recorded first place finishes in the 400 freestyle relay event.

Senior Erik Soria (Stamford, CT) recorded a BIG EAST B qualifying time on his way to a first place finish in the 100 backstroke, swimming 53.87. Soria also took top honors in the 200 backstroke, with a BIG EAST B time of 1:56.10.

On the women’ side, senior Andrea Miller (White Plains, NY) took first place honors in the 100 backstroke with a BIG EAST B qualifying time of 1:00.09.

In the 200 butterfly, RU took the top three spots as freshman Kelly Harrigan (Bristol, CT) won the event with a BIG EAST A time of 2:07.80. Seniors Michelle De Freese (Rahway, NJ) (2:11.41) and Kristi Herbst (Mantua, NJ) (2:11.66) finished second and third respectively.

In the 50 freestyle, the Scarlet Knights took the top spots, as sophomore Ruth Nichols (Raleigh, NC) and junior Casmera Wick (Longmont, CO) took first and second place respectively. Nichols recorded a BIG EAST A time of 24.52, while Wick registered a BIG EAST B time of 24.76.

Senior Amanda Widdis (Long Branch, NJ) and junior Liz Carter (West Covina, CA) finished first and second respectively in the 200 breaststroke, with BIG EAST B qualifying times of 2:26.80 and 2:28.78. Junior Samantha Caetano (Alameda, CA) won the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:09.47.

In the women’s 200 IM, Carter came in first with a BE B time of 2:11.02, while freshman Katie Kuczmarkski (Wilmington, DE) finished second with a time of 2:11.72.

In the one-meter diving event, RU recorded a one-two finish as junior Kelly Gehardstein (Sandusky, OH) earned a score of 228.97, while freshman Erica Moreland (Schenectady, NY) registered a 216.52.Gerhardstein also took the three meter diving event with a score of 243.22.

The Scarlet Knights hope their first home meet of the season next Sat., Nov. 9, against Connecticut at the Sonny Werblin Center in Piscataway, NJ. RESULTS