Lady Jaspers Off to Best Start in School History
Nick Manzione
Issue date: 11/15/06 Section: Sports
The Lady Jaspers have all but 13 swimmers on their team and they are off to the best start the school has ever seen. The Lady Jaspers, led by senior captains Courtney Arduini, Nicole Mason and Sarah Szotak have an overall record of 9-2 after a great weekend at Niagara.
This weekend the Lady Jaspers traveled to Niagara University to battle against Canisius, St. Peters and the host Niagara. The Lady Jaspers edged out Canisius by two points and also defeated St. Peters said senior Courtney Arduini. "It was tough to beat Niagara though because we are a smaller team without any divers." That pushed the Lady Jaspers record to an astounding 9-2 record.
Before their last two weekend matches the Lady Jaspers had the best start to a swimming season that Manhattan College has ever seen. Their first four out of seven matches were away, but that did not affect the Lady Jaspers as they won all four of their matches away from Riverdale. They also went on to win their three matches at home to start off the season at 7-0 for the first time ever.
"It felt pretty good to be on a record setting team," said Arduini. "We have a couple new freshman on the team and they have helped us out a lot. We are a small team but very interdependent which helps us do well in every meet."
The Lady Jaspers do a lot of things out of the pool to keep their relationships close throughout the season and beyond. "We do a lot of little things to have fun with each other outside of the pool. We do a lot of pasta parties at night just to relax," said Arduini.
All of these little things seem to lead to the Lady Jaspers success. They started out with two Jersey matches, one against Stevens Institute of Technology and the other against New Jersey Institute of Technology. In both of those matches they won pretty easily, defeating Stevens 113-84 and NJIT and St. Peter's at the McCarthy Invitational 90-24. That was just the start of it as they went on to defeat NJIT, Mt. Saint Mary's, St. Francis-NY and Sacred Heart en route to a 7-0 record.
The goal of the Lady Jaspers is very simple; win the MAAC championships, as is every team's goal once they start the season. "We go on a Florida trip before the season starts to get back in the groove of things," said Arduini. "We practice everyday and usually lift in the gym two days a week to strengthen those swimming muscles, which we are pretty consistent with."
"This entire workout will hopefully lead us to three more victories this semester," said Arduini. The Lady Jaspers only have three matches left until the intersession begins and then starts crunch time in February.
"Our ultimate goal is to get to the MAAC championships and win the MAAC championships, we do not work so hard for nothing," said Arduini.
Even though the Lady Jaspers are without divers, they are still really strong and will be very tough competition throughout the season. Their next match is at home against Hunter College on Friday November 17th.
This weekend the Lady Jaspers traveled to Niagara University to battle against Canisius, St. Peters and the host Niagara. The Lady Jaspers edged out Canisius by two points and also defeated St. Peters said senior Courtney Arduini. "It was tough to beat Niagara though because we are a smaller team without any divers." That pushed the Lady Jaspers record to an astounding 9-2 record.
Before their last two weekend matches the Lady Jaspers had the best start to a swimming season that Manhattan College has ever seen. Their first four out of seven matches were away, but that did not affect the Lady Jaspers as they won all four of their matches away from Riverdale. They also went on to win their three matches at home to start off the season at 7-0 for the first time ever.
"It felt pretty good to be on a record setting team," said Arduini. "We have a couple new freshman on the team and they have helped us out a lot. We are a small team but very interdependent which helps us do well in every meet."
The Lady Jaspers do a lot of things out of the pool to keep their relationships close throughout the season and beyond. "We do a lot of little things to have fun with each other outside of the pool. We do a lot of pasta parties at night just to relax," said Arduini.
All of these little things seem to lead to the Lady Jaspers success. They started out with two Jersey matches, one against Stevens Institute of Technology and the other against New Jersey Institute of Technology. In both of those matches they won pretty easily, defeating Stevens 113-84 and NJIT and St. Peter's at the McCarthy Invitational 90-24. That was just the start of it as they went on to defeat NJIT, Mt. Saint Mary's, St. Francis-NY and Sacred Heart en route to a 7-0 record.
The goal of the Lady Jaspers is very simple; win the MAAC championships, as is every team's goal once they start the season. "We go on a Florida trip before the season starts to get back in the groove of things," said Arduini. "We practice everyday and usually lift in the gym two days a week to strengthen those swimming muscles, which we are pretty consistent with."
"This entire workout will hopefully lead us to three more victories this semester," said Arduini. The Lady Jaspers only have three matches left until the intersession begins and then starts crunch time in February.
"Our ultimate goal is to get to the MAAC championships and win the MAAC championships, we do not work so hard for nothing," said Arduini.
Even though the Lady Jaspers are without divers, they are still really strong and will be very tough competition throughout the season. Their next match is at home against Hunter College on Friday November 17th.