Wingate Beats Limestone

The Wingate University men’s and women’s swimming teams swept a dual meet over Limestone College Saturday afternoon at the Timken Aquatic Center on the Limestone campus. The Wingate women defeated the host Saints 133-129, while the Bulldog men picked up a 173-89 victory. The Bulldogs and the Saints are both members of the Blue Grass Mountain Conference.

Wingate women 133, Limestone 129
 
Wingate’s depth was the difference, as the Bulldogs posted one, two, three finishes in three individual events. Bulldog All-American Cheryl Vaccaro (Charlotte, N.C.) won two events for the visitors. Vaccaro touched first in the 200 Freestyle (2:00.41) and the 100 Freestyle (55.16). Wingate finished one-two-three in the 200 Freestyle. Vaccaro also finished second in the 200 Breaststroke.
 
Bulldog freshman Elly Speer (Sydney, Australia) won the 200 Butterfly with a time of 2:14.29, leading a one-two-three Wingate showing. Speer had a solid day, as she placed third in the 200 Freestyle and second in the 100 Butterfly. Sophomore Malin Kersmark (Malin-Bjarred, Sweden) took the checkered flag in the 200 Backstroke with a victorious time of 2:10.85. Kersmark was also second in the 100 Backstroke.
 
Wingate senior Samantha Vencl (Wickliffe, Ohio) won the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:01.97 as the Bulldogs claimed the top three spots. She was second in the 50 Freestyle and third in the 200 Individual Medley. Vencl teamed with Kersmark, Vaccaro and junior All-American Nicole Moody (Grovetown, Ga.) to finish second in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:42.70, only 12/100 of a second behind Limestone’s winning time.
 
Wingate men 173, Limestone 89
 
The Wingate men won nine individual events and one relay event to take the dual meet victory over the LC Saints. Wingate senior All-Americans Gus Chagas (Recife, Brazil) and Mason Norman (Duluth, Ga.) led the way, as each swimmer won three individual races. 
 
Chagas won the 100 Backstroke (54.29), the 200 Backstroke (1:59.52) and the 100 Butterfly (53.96). Wingate swimmers touched first, second and third in both the 100 Backstroke and the 200 Backstroke.
 
Norman was victorious in the 50 Freestyle (21.70), the 100 Freestyle (47.20) and the 100 Breaststroke (58.92). In the day’s final event, Chagas and Norman teamed with senior Daniel De Francisco (Cali, Colombia) and junior Lucas Willers (Tacoma, Wash) to win the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:11.63.
 
Three Bulldogs won one individual event each. Senior Guilherme Veiga (Vinton, Va.) won the 1000 Freestyle with a time of 9:50.97, leading a one-two-three finish for the Bulldogs. Senior Kyle Corcoran (Kent, Wash.) touched first in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 1:59.58. Junior Marcello Machado (Recife, Brazil) was the victor in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:16.73.
 
The Bulldog swim teams will return to the pool Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 21-22), hosting the Wingate University Invitational at the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center in Charlotte.



The Limestone College men’s and women’s swimming teams were defeated by Wingate University on Saturday afternoon at the Timken Aquatic Center. The Lady Saints were edged by the Lady Bulldogs, 133-129. The Saints lost to the Wingate men 173-89.
 
The Lady Saints, who have never beaten Wingate, had several strong efforts by team members.
 
“Our women’s team moral was really high,” pointed out Limestone Head Coach Robert Gecan. “Senior team captain Molly Reichwald did a great job of leading our team. The girls battled back and forth and came close to pulling off the upset.”
 
The Lady Saints started out strong as they won the 200 medley relay. Renee Pouchet, Marta Stepien, Ines Speranda, and Raquel Rudolph combined for a time of 1:52.19. In the final relay event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle, won with a time of 3:42.58. Members of the team included Reichwald, Jenna Arington, Isabell Nystrom, and Rudolph.
 
The Limestone women also did well in the individual events. Pouchet posted a personal best time of 59.95 to win the 100 backstroke. Stepien picked up wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.87), the 200 breaststroke (2:23.55), and the 200 individual medley (2:10.61). Her times in the 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley qualified for NCAA “B” cut times. Nystrom picked up wins in the 1000 freestyle (10:46.22) and 500 freestyle (5:15.78) events. Speranda, closing in on her team record, posted a season-best time of 2:18.83 in the 200 butterfly. Arington won the 50 freestyle with her time of 26.01.
 
Despite being plagued by illness and injury, the men also came out of the gate winning the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:40.65. Gene Magliaro, Ben Williams, Deniz Bilgin, and Lance Maxwell all contributed to the first-place finish. While the thin line up would eventually impact the final result, several individuals continued to show early season improvements.
 
Team captain Gilles Gutnecht dominated the 200 and 500 freestyle events with times of 1:44.71 and 4:48.70, respectively. Ben Williams continued to improve as he posted his best early season time in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.49) after he was disqualified for a false start in the 100 breaststroke.  Nikolaus Thomas had a strong performance in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:03.24, and he also posted an early season-best time in the 200 freestyle (1:49.91). Blake Schaeffer turned out an impressive victory in the 200 butterfly. After falling behind in the first 150 yards of the event, Schaeffer put forth a huge effort to pass the Wingate swimmers in the last 10 yards for a time of 2:06.55. Bilgin finished third in the 200 individual medley with a season best time of 2:04.84.
 
Limestone will begin competition at the Charlotte Invitational on November 21 at 10 a.m. in Charlotte, N.C.