PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's divers secured a 1M crown and the program's sixth-highest score in school history at the Rutgers Diving Invite, while the Scarlet Knight swimmers took home two of the top three fastest 200 IM times in the RU record book at the Minnesota Invitational.
 

FROM THE POOL DECK

• Sophomore Amelia Scott was crowned the 1M champion at the Rutgers Diving Invitational, edging out teammate Holly Prasanto, who produced the Scarlet Knights' sixth-highest score in school history during prelims. Freshman Madilyn Varnum took third for RU to secure at 1-2-3 finish.
• Graduate students Molly Urkiel and Shannon Meadway went into the record books in the 200 IM qualifying for the A final with the second- and third-times at Rutgers in the 200 IM. Both bettered their times in the final falling just short of breaking the RU record set in 2014.

RU DIVING INVITE RECAP

• Sophomore Amelia Scott emerged with the 1M crown on the opening day of the Rutgers Invitational. She topped the leaderboard in finals with a NCAA Zone qualifying score of 283.75.
• Senior Holly Prasanto was narrowly edged out of the top position with a score of 282.90 to land in second. During prelim action, Prasanto was the top finisher as her score of 304.50 gave her the sixth-highest score in RU history and bettered her previous PR of 299.20 set at last year's NCAA finals.
• Freshman Madilyn Varnum collected a new personal best and NCAA Zone score in her third-place performance with a 274.10.

MINNESOTA INVITE RECAP

• The 200 IM saw two of the fastest performances not only this season, but in school history, by graduate students Molly Urkiel and Shannon Meadway.
• In the prelims, the Scarlet Knights swam to two top-three all-time performances in the event.  Urkiel posted the second-fastest time in RU history, clocking in at 2:00.49. Meadway, meanwhile, hit the wall in 2:00.63 for the third fastest time in Scarlet Knight history.
• Both bettered their times in the A final. Urkiel hit in 2:00.21 for fifth, still shy of the school record of 1:58.46 set by Morgan Pfaff in 2014, while Meadway dropped down to 2:00.51 for seventh.
  Urkiel dropped 3.65 seconds off her previous best set at last year's Hawkeye Invite Prelims, while Meadway took off 1.80 seconds from her previous PR set at the 2020 Big Ten Championships.

 

• The Scarlet Knights had six in the finals of the 500 free.
• Sophomore Blanka Berecz set a new PR with a fourth-place time of 4:53.92. She took 3.60 seconds off her previous best set during the prelims at last year's Big Ten Championships.
• RU competed in five of the eight lanes in the C final with junior Megan Fox leading the way with the top finish of 4:56.36 and sophomore Ella Hall touching in third in 4:57.08.
• Freshman Isabela Valle placed fourth (4:59.43), Grace Weaver took fifth (5:00.17) and Ella Arbeiter finished fifth (5:02.25) to round out the C final. Weaver posted a new PR besting her previous top time by .28 seconds set at last year's Big Ten Championship.

 

• The night wrapped up with the 200 free relay and the Scarlet Knights swimming to a season-best. The group of Brooke Thompson, Molly Urkiel, Jade Smits and Martyna Piesko put together a time of 1:34.53 to place sixth.

 

RESULTS

Rutgers Diving Invite Results
1M Final
1. Amelia Scott - 283.75
2. Holly Prasanto - 282.90
3. Madilyn Varnum - 274.10
 
Minnesota Invite Results
500 Free
B Final
4. Blanka Berecz - 4:53.92
 
C Final
1. Megan Fox - 4:56.36
3. Ella Hall - 4:57.08
4. Isabela Valle - 4:59.43
5. Grace Weaver - 5:00.17
7. Ella Arbeiter - 5:02.25

200 IM
A Final
5. Molly Urkiel - 2:00.21
7. Shannon Meadway - 2:00.51

200 Free Relay
5. Rutgers (Brooke Thompson, Molly Urkiel, Jade Smits, Martyna Piesko) - 1:34.53
 

UP NEXT

• The Rutgers Diving Invitational continues on Friday, December 6 with women's 3M and men's 1M. Prelims begin at 10:30 a.m. with the top 12 divers advancing to finals at 4 p.m. At the Minnesota Invite, action continues with the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 400 medley relay.

Follow Rutgers women's swimming & diving on Facebook, X and Instagram.