UNION, N.J. (October 8, 2022)  – First-year Gabby Tyer topped the field in the 500-yard freestyle, but the Stevens Institute of Technology women's swimming team fell to Kean University 172-89 Saturday in a non-conference dual at the D'Angola Gymnasium Pool.

Fellow first-year Natalia Brunetti also picked up her first career by topping the field in the 100 fly for the Ducks, who dropped to 0-1 in dual meets on the year.

Kean claimed 12 race victories in earning the victory to move to 1-0. The contest was the first between the teams since 2003.

"The women had a nice first dual meet of the year," head coach Adam Schneider said. "I think we swam fine for how long we've been in the water. Kean was really sharp and it was nice to have a lot of close races with them."

"A really nice 500 by Gabby T for one of our victories of the day," Schneider continued. "We looked like how I'd expect us to this early and I think we're all excited to race again soon."

Tyer had an impressive race in the 500, getting out to an early lead, completing the first 50 yards in 30.17 seconds - the fastest 50 split of any of the five swimmers in the race. The Ellicott City, Maryland native closed out the race by swimming the final 50 yards in 33.71 seconds to finish with a time of 5:34.80, nearly three seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Brunetti, meanwhile, finished the 100 fly in 1:00.90, edging Kean's Abby Burns by 36-hundredths-of-a-second. The Richmond, California native was in second place after the first 50 yards, but Brunetti finished strong, swimming the final 50 yards in 31.93 seconds to earn the victory.

In addition to Tyer and Brunetti, five other Ducks (first-years Adriana Bertolotti, Amanda LaFrancois, Sydney Lanager, Rachel Merrifield and Gabby Sokolik) swam their first collegiate race. 

The Ducks scored eight second-place finishes on the day, with seven of the races decided by a second-and-a-half or less.

Earning second-place finishes in the relay events were the 200-yard medley relay team (sophomore Kai Wong, Bertolotti, Brunetti and Sokolik) and the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Brunetti and juniors Heather Maclachlan, Lauren Smith and Gillian Reinhardt. On the individual side, LaFrancois (1,000 free), Wong (100 back), Bertolotti (100 breast and 50 breast), junior Jamielyn Juan (50 fly) and Smith (50 back) all earned second-place finishes in their respective events.

Up Next: Women's Swimming returns to the pool on Nov. 5 for the two day New York University Fall Invitational.

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