The temperature outside might be cooling down quickly, but the atmosphere around Baruch sports is heating up just as fast. In their last meet before the ECAC Winter Championships, both the men and women swimming and diving teams earned narrow victories against the College of Staten Island, improving their winning streaks to four meets. Both teams held small leads in the individual events but dominated the relays, especially the 200-yard freestyle.
The women held sway over the podium position, finishing with a large 14-second cushion in first to ensure all 11 points, while they also finished third to snag two more. Standing out for the women was Nicola Ousmanova, who excelled at the freestyle medley, winning the 100-yard individual and the 200-yard relay, as well as Amanda Lee, who clinched first place in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly en route to winning CUNYAC Swimmer of the Week. The women now improve to 6-4 on the season.
For the men, the 200-yard freestyle relay was close but the Bearcats’ also earned control of the podium positions, finishing in first place by six seconds and earning third place as well. A standout swimmer for the men was David Matskovsky, who took home first place and set new personal records in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard freestyle individual on the way to earning the CUNYAC Swimmer of the Week award.
This meet had added significance for the junior, stating how “the feeling is awesome being able to have a meet in my hometown and swim the way I did in front of my teammates and in front of my friends and win CUNY Swimmer of the Week.”
However, he is not resting on his laurels, adding, “There’s a whole season ahead filled with more meets to compete in and while I do enjoy winning Swimmer of the Week, it’s another source of motivation to only work harder and get faster going forward not just for myself, but for my teammates and Baruch College as a whole and I’m going to prove just that!”
The men improved to 6-2 on the season.
From the pool to the hardwood, the Bearcats pull out the victories when it matters. The men earned their first win of the season playing in the Western Connecticut State Tournament. Baruch basketball bombarded the Coast Guard Academy in the second half, going 10 of 17 from the field, including three shots from downtown.
Starter Sean Donnellan set the scoring tempo for the Bearcats, finishing the game as Baruch’s leading scorer with 17 points. However, the game was won thanks to 25 points contributed from the bench, highlighted by Emil Purisic’s perfect 5 of 5 night from the field.
Although the Bearcats were unable to overcome a sluggish first half in an exhibition defeat to Fisher College, the Bearcats’s record is perfectly balanced at 1-1 heading into their away game against the Marine Academy.
Nia Dawson continued her torrid start to the season, averaging 21 points per game while Melinda Spahiu continued her own strong start to the season, scoring 19 points in a 77-46 thrashing of SUNY Purchase.
The ladies won the battle for the rebounds with Daniela Zirpolo’s 12 rebounds a big reason why. She also scored 12 points, notching her second double-double of the year. Frances Snyder also
had her game of the season thus far with 17 points.
The women look to extend their winning streak to five games and keep their perfect season alive against SUNY Cobleskill.
While the basketball team’s season is ongoing, the women’s volleyball season ended in heartbreaking fashion with straight set quarterfinal defeat to Neumann University in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Division III Championship.
The attack was led valiantly by team captain Anita Sengara, who registered 11 kills. Yijia Cai had six kills and Sanaa Hadjeb doled out 11 assists as a setter. Although their season ended prematurely, the Bearcats of the volleyball court can hold their heads high as they achieved a winning record for the first time since 2013. They also achieved the highest number of wins since 2013 with 19 victories.
Finally, the NCAA Cross Country Regional Finals were chocked full of personal records for the ladies and the gents from Baruch. Through the snow and the rough terrain, Shemontee Chowdhury and Sadia Huque finished with personal bests of just over 40 minutes while
Urgan Chodon finished the 6K race with the best time from the women, clocking in at 33:24. As a team, the women saw an improvement in the place for the NCAAs, climbing four places to 38th as compared to last year.
The men saw personal bests from three men, including Amadou Barry, Armend Lulani and Caleb Hoo. However, the fastest time for the 8K race came from Victor Carrano, who finished in just under 29 minutes.
As a team, the men finished in 42nd place, which is nothing to scoff at. In addition, they finished in third place in the CUNYAC finals and improved in the ECAC Championship, finishing in ninth.
