Swimming & Diving Drops Result to Rutgers

Thursday, October 7

West Point, NY

5:30 PM

Army West Point

143

Rutgers

Swimming & Diving Drops Result to Rutgers

October 07, 2021 | Women's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

MEET
SCORES	Rutgers 143, Army 96
RECORDS	Army (2-2) Rutgers (1-0)

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Despite strong performances across the board, the Army West Point swimming & diving team fell 143-96 to Rutgers on Thursday evening at Crandall Pool.

The loss was the first that the team has suffered since its season-opener, as the Black Knights were coming off a pair of wins over both Vermont and Binghamton.

Army was able to collect early points from a second-place finish in the 400 Medley Relay and Erica Esterly's third place swim in the 1000 Free, but the Scarlet Knights were still able to jump out to an early lead after claiming the meet's first four events.

Melinda Zhang snapped Rutgers' scoring spree in the 400 IM, touching the wall first with a final time of 4:31.83. Her swim bested the field by five full seconds and she was joined in the top three by teammate Mary Rotenberg, who came in third.

The visitors responded to Zhang's victory with three-straight wins before the sophomore added her second individual triumph of the day. Zhang laid down a time of 5:09.98 to claim the 500 Free by nearly a seven-second margin. She was followed by Esterly, who out-touched a Rutgers swimmer by 0.04 seconds to secure second place.

On the boards, Rutgers' attempt to sweep both the 1m and 3m event was stopped by Minh Donnell. The rookie scored 258.00 for a third-place finish on the 3m board and additionally scored a team-high 272.63 in the 1m event. Donnell's score on the 1m board qualifies her for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championship.

Despite Rutgers earning the advantage in scoring, the Cadets were able to earn 16 top-three finishes throughout the meet's 13 events.

Event Winners
400 IM – Melinda Zhang – 4:31.83
500 Free – Melinda Zhang – 5:09.98

Coach's Corner
"We were excited to host Rutgers and take on a very tough Big10 school," head coach Brandt Nigro said. "As you'll see all year and moving forward, we will challenge ourselves against some of the best teams in the NCAA. Not only does it give us a chance to test ourselves, but it also helps us learn where we need to improve and what to focus on as we move forward. We had many great performances today and we are beginning to see some of the work we put in and changes we've made pay off. At the same time, there are still many things we need to get better at and I'm excited to get back to work this Saturday. But first, we need to recover, sleep and get ready to hit the road to take on a very tough BC team tomorrow evening. I'm excited to see how we build on this performance and continue to move forward. Congratulations to Minh Donnell who qualified for zones this evening on the 1 meter. Melinda Zhang was fantastic tonight and stepped up to swim two different events than normal and came away with two wins."

Cadets' Corner
"We've been working really hard for the last month. We've been grinding every single day. Coming into this meet we were tired, but that was the point of this meet. To see what we can do under a lot of fatigue. I honestly think the way we pulled through was great. We did our best. Rutgers is a fast team, but I'm impressed with how our team did. I definitely think we still have ways to go. Personally, I'm happy that I contributed with two wins. I'm hoping we see more wins in the future and continue to compete." – Melinda Zhang

"This was a really fun meet. It was so exciting to see everyone dive well and swim fast at our home pool. I'm really excited that I've made Zones so early in the season and am looking forward to seeing more of my teammates qualify. It was awesome to have the men's team there today supporting us and I'm looking forward to our next meet." – Minh Donnell

What's Next
The women's team will have a quick turnaround before a meet at Boston College on Friday, Oct. 8. They will join the men to take on the Eagles at 5 p.m. in the Margot Connell Recreation Center.

Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point swimming & diving, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_SwimDive and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.