College of Charleston put forth a spectacular performance in the last home meet of the season as the men knocked off the defending CCSA champion Davidson Wildcats, 163-131, at the Stern Center on Saturday afternoon. The Davidson women defeated College of Charleston, 167-133.
The Cougars won seven events on the men’s side and six events on the women’s side.
"I couldn’t be more pleased of the effort of our men’s and women’s teams today," head coach Bruce Zimmerman said. "We competed in every race and continued to improve. There were some dramatic finishes and we showed a lot of heart."
Matthew Sherrier capped another huge day with a dramatic final leg of the 400-meter freestyle relay that secured the win for the Cougars. Sherrier teamed with his brother, David, Greg Karel and Eric Craig to race a first-place time of 3:32.52. Sherrier also took home first-place finishes in the 200-meter freestyle and 400-meter freestyle race with times of 1:54.31 and 4:05.76, respectively.
Freshman Pablo Ortiz continued to swim well in the butterfly events, winning the 100-meter fly in 58.67 second and the 200-meter butterfly in 2:07.72. Ortiz also took second place in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:10.47.
Zack Lambert and Greg Karel each won their individual events as Lambert won the 100-meter backstroke (59.55) and Karel took the 50-meter freestyle (24.53). Brantley Reynolds scored points by taking second place in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:08.05), and Jackson Marine was right behind Lambert in the 100 back (1:00.33).
Michael Topitzer had a strong in the diving events as he won the 3-meter (167.17) and 1-meter (158.10) dives.
On the women’s side, Sarah Boyle won two events in the 100- and 200-meter backstrokes (1:06.91, 2:24.02). Sarah Graif won the 50 free with a time of 27.62 seconds, and Gracie Herlong took first place in the 200-meter fly (2:23.85).
CofC swept the 100-meter freestyle event as Mary Frances Babrowicz, Graif and Jayme Groth took first, second and third place.
Those three teamed with Meredith Smith in the 400-meter freestyle relay to power the Cougars to a first-place time of 4:01.74.
College of Charleston travels to Raleigh, N.C., for a meet at N.C. State next Saturday, Nov. 12.