PURCHASE, N.Y. – The William Paterson men's swimming and diving team (6-1) couldn't have been more dominant Tuesday, sweeping all 11 events on the way to a 68-43 victory at SUNY Purchase (1-4) Nov. 14 to win its sixth non-conference meet in a row.
A huge part of WP's early success this season has been due to the performance of senior
Anthony Taboadela (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills), which continued against the Panthers. The Rockaway, N.J. native was a triple winner, touching first in the 200 free (1:56.30), 100 fly (58.83) and 500 free (5:37.82).
Racking up another multi-winning performance was senior
Sammuel Melendez (West Haverstraw, N.Y./North Rockland), who secured the 100 breast (1:08.88) by a large margin (5.8 seconds), as well as the 200 IM (2:12.58), missing his career-best time by just 0.23 second. Sophomore
Jimmy Sharkey (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) joined Melendez as a double winner, taking home the 1,000 free (11:28.62) and 100 back (1:04.65).
With six individual victors all told for WP, the Pioneers also had three secure single wins. Second-year
Eamon Logue (Vernon, N.J./Vernon Twp.) topped the field of swimmers in the 50 free (23.84), and classmate
Terrence Hopkins (Landing, N.J./Roxbury) garnered nine points for the Pioneers with a 55.82 in the 100 free. Junior
Drew Macchia (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) also won the 100 free (53.05), barely ousting Logue (53.07).
William Paterson bookended the meet by winning the relay events, posting a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay (2:01.26) with a quartet of freshmen that included
John Conlow (Mount Laurel, N.J. /Lenape),
Valentine Perez (Hamilton, N.J. /Hamilton),
Jonathan Vela (Prospect Park, N.J./Passaic County Tech) and
Joey Croce (Dumont, N.J. /Dumont). WP closed the meet with Logue, Sharkey, Melendez and Macchia winning the 200 free (1:41.05).
Other notable finishers for WP were freshmen
Bradley Belina (Paramus, N.J. /Paramus) and
Thomas Haughey (Folsom, Pa. /Ridley). Belina dropped nine seconds from his 1,000 free time (11:36.54) to earn second place, and shaved three seconds from his personal-best mark in the 500 free (5:38.40), touching just 0.58 second after Taboadela. Haughey boasted two second-place times as well, reaching the wall in 2:05.71 in the 200 free and just 0.34 second off Sharkey's time in the 100 back.
The Pioneers are off the rest of November and will aim for their seventh win of the year as they host Old Westbury (0-3) Saturday, Dec. 2, at 1:00 p.m. for Parent Appreciation Day. WP topped the Panthers 92-79 last season in Old Westbury.
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http://www.wpupioneers.com and
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