Lady Bears Swimming Edged by St. Joseph’s (L.I.), Defeats Old Westbury

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The annual sibling rivalry between the Brooklyn and Long Island campuses of St. Joseph's College saw the Lady Bears lead through eight events and the winner decided by the final event, but Brooklyn dropped a 51-43 decision on Friday night at the John A. Danzi Athletic Center.

The Lady Bears (2-3) dominated Old Westbury (1-4) capturing 10 of the 11 events in the double-dual meet for their second win of the season, 74-19. The Golden Eagles (3-1) also defeated the Panthers to earn the sweep and notched their first Skyline victory.

Morgan Summers (Bellerose, NY/St. Mary's), Laura Sonnylal (Richmond Hill, NY/Archbishop Molloy), Tina Wong (HS of Telecommunications Art and Technology) and Jaclyn Montana (Brooklyn, NY/Bay Ridge Prep) got Brooklyn off to a quick start capturing the opening 200 yard medley relay. The Lady Bears jumped out to a 22-11 lead when Erin Collins (Breezy Point, NY/Fontbonne Hall) and Sonnylal went one-two in the 50-yard freestyle. Collins posted a season-best 31.08 and later lowered her season-best in the 100-yard free (1:11.86).

Patchogue went on to take the next four events, but the Lady Bears kept pace with the Eagles, finishing in second in each event to maintain their lead. The 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke would be key events in the meet; the Golden Eagles edging out Summers in each event by less than a second, the freshman also lowering her school-best mark in the 200 IM to 2:41.06. Had the outcomes been reversed the meet would have been tied.

Wong set a new school-record in the 100-yard butterfly (1:21.76) in earning a second-place finish.

Long Island finally overtook Brooklyn taking one-two in the 500-yard freestyle, but Sonnylal countered with a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke, the penultimate event, to cut the deficit to 44-43.

In the final 200-yard freestyle relay, the Golden Eagles got out to an early lead and never allowed the Lady Bears to close the gap to seal the victory.

Sophmore Rebecca Sacerio (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln) also tallied season best times in the 100-yard backstroke (1:18.88) and 200-yard free (2:38.07) in turning in a pair of third place finishes.

The Lady Bears are scheduled to return to the pool for their final meet of 2012 on Tuesday, December 11 against HVWAC rivals College of New Rochelle at the CNR Wellness Center starting at 7 p.m.