Abert, Lajoie And Popovic Lead The Pirates Against Navy

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – Although East Carolina recorded five wins in eight freestyle races, Navy won 23 total events and swept the Pirates' men and women's swimming and diving teams at Minges Natatorium Sunday.

The Midshipmen posted a 185-111 victory on the women's side and a 170-128 win against the men.

"It was a great college dual meet today," Pirate head coach Rick Kobe said. "Navy closed us out in event 15 of 16 for both men and women. There were so many close races that we got touched out in. However, I'm very proud of all the fast times we posted."

Newcomer Marion Abert earned a pair of wins in her ECU debut, touching first in the women's 500 (4:59.13) and 1000-yard (10:09.87) freestyle. She outdistanced the field by 11.87 seconds to win the 1000 freestyle and claimed first in the 500 freestyle by more than six seconds (6.32).

Junior Julie Lajoie was victorious in the 200 butterfly (2:03.09) and 200 backstroke (2:02.72). She touched just 0:00.23 in front of Delany Walz of Navy to win the 200 butterfly, but finished a comfortable 0:03.88 ahead of Ally Warnimont in 200 backstroke.

Redshirt junior Alicia Roueche, who missed the 2015-16 season with an injury, swept the women's diving competitions with a score of 239.10 on the 1-meter springboard and 218.00 on the 3-meter board.

On the men's side, freshman Grega Popovic claimed first-place for ECU in the 500 (4:42.27) and 1000-yard (9:38.48) freestyle. In his first collegiate race, Popovic was 2.02 better than Navy's Sam Ciocco in the 1000 freestyle before touching just 1.32 in front of sophomore teammate Manuel Alvarez in the 500 freestyle.

Junior Boleck DePawlikowski captured first-place in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.67 and sophomore Maxime Cadiat was the fastest swimmer in the 50 freestyle (21.44).

The Pirates will return to action Saturday, Oct. 22, at home with a tri-meet against Catawba and Campbell, while also hosting a diving competition with Clemson and UNCW. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Marion Abert

Manny Alvarez

Maxime Cadiat

Boleck De Pawlikowski

Julie Lajoie

Grega Popovic

Alicia Roueche

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