By DREW CASEY
STAFF WRITER

After having its Wednesday meet postponed, the Fordham swimming and diving team took to the pool on Thursday evening against St. Francis College of New York. Prior to the meet, the team honored its seven graduating seniors in front of a packed crowd at the Colonel Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center in the Lombardi Center. Kara Field, Shannon Jones, Nicolas Alemann, Michael Grimmett-Norris, Nicholas Belfanti, Ben Dwyer and Shintaro Noguchi each received flowers and a framed collage highlighting their Fordham careers.

“The last meet of the season is always bittersweet,” said Jones. “The energy is just unlike any other meet on a sentimental level.”

Following the brief ceremony, the team blew St. Francis out of the water. The women’s squad defeated the Terriers 120-71, while the men’s team won 130.5-84.5.

Forty-five of 53 Fordham swimmers placed in the meet, including all seven seniors.

Noguchi touched first in the 50-yard freestyle, and was a member of the winning 200-yard medley relay team. The Tiburon, Calif. native was also part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that placed second.

Jones was a part of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team and took second in the 50-yard freestyle. She was also third in the 100-yard butterfly.

Field was also a member of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team and tied Jones for second in the 50-yard freestyle. It was definitely fitting that the only two seniors on the women’s team tied in this individual event on senior night.

Grimmett-Norris captured the 500-yard freestyle in 4:51.86 and also was a member of the second place 200-yard freestyle relay team.

Belfanti was part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team, and Dwyer took second in the 50-yard freestyle. Additionally, Dwyer was a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished in second. Alemann rounded out the seniors, finishing second as part of a 200-yard freestyle team.

Fordham also had 12 other individual event winners.  Sophomore Steve Sholdra touched first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly, and was also part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team.

Hanul Moon was victorious in both the one-meter dive and the three-meter dive, while sophomore Kurtis Rossie was fastest in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle. Nicholas D’Souza was first in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Joseph Parisi won the 100-yard backstroke.

Megan Foster won the 100-yard freestyle, and fellow sophomore Megan Gray was quickest in the 200-yard freestyle. Freshman Kalena Laurent took the 100-yard butterfly in 56.83 seconds, and Natalie Malicki touched first in the 500-yard freestyle.

Chandler Lulley won the 100-yard freestyle and her sister, Shannon Lulley, captured the 200-yard individual medley. Finally, junior Aurelia O’Keefe placed first in the 50-yard freestyle.

The team will begin four days of competition at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Feb. 19 in Geneva, Ohio at the Spire Institute. Last year, the women finished third out of 11 teams, while the men placed fifth out of seven teams.

“The team is more than ready for A-10s,” Field said. “We have put in very hard practices this entire season, stayed mentally strong at meets and always held a positive team approach.”

“In my three and a half years here, I have never seen such a tightly knit and dedicated team like this one,” Noguchi said. “This is definitely a special team.”