EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's swimming and diving team concluded their 2023 TCNJ Invitational with a nail-biting first place finish, as the Lions concluded the weekend with 1005 team points on Sunday.
Needing a win in the final event of the weekend, the Lions' 400 free relay team of
Bridget Cleveland,
Mackenzie Wall,
Katie Mazzacco and
Lilliana Kuball clutched out a top time of 3:37.40 to edge past Stevens by eight points. Leading up to the exciting finale, the blue and gold recorded a pair of individual event victories and five top-10 individual NJAC times.
TOP-FIVE FINISHERS
- The Lions secured the first win on the day in the 1650 free, as senior captain Sarah Burton took first by clocking the sixth fastest NJAC time of 18:24.52. Freshman Bella Patti took fourth in the event with her time of 18:53.13.
- Sophomore Bridget Cleveland finished second in the 200 back championship finals after recording the seventh-best time of 2:11.77.
- In the 100 free finals, freshman Katie Mazzacco took third with a time of 55.59, and captain Mackenzie Wall was right behind her in fifth at 56.27.
- Freshman Lilliana Kuball took home a win in the 200 breast finals by recording the seventh fastest conference mark of 2:27.12. Sophomore Katelyn Gaulin touched right after her in second place with the ninth fastest NJAC time of 2:29.38.
- A pair of Lions finished among the top-five in the 200 fly finals, with sophomore Nisha Narayanan touching in third with a time of 2:22.94 and sophomore Sophia Hall finishing fifth at 2:30.58.
- In the 400 free relay, Cleveland got things started with a quick leadoff time of 54.35 to get ahead of Stevens and the Lions never looked back as Kuball anchored a split of 53.54 to help TCNJ secure a top-three NJAC time as well as winning the meet. Cleveland's leadoff split stacks up as the seventh-fastest 100 free time in the NJAC this season.
ON THE BOARD
- As the lone competitors for the 3-meter 11 dives event, the sophomore duo of Beth Evaldi and Erin Sommers finished their day with scores of 404.35 and 313.80, respectively.
UP NEXT
The Lions return to the pool in a little over a month as the team kicks off the new year in a tri-meet at home against Kean and Millersville on January 13.
