Sophomore Victoria Radcliffe broke a pool record as the Salisbury University men's and women's swimming teams played host to Frostburg State University and defeated the Bobcats in Capital Athletic Conference action. The men won 155-48, while the women captured a 141-64 victory.
Women
The women's squad notched seven first-place finishes on the afternoon.
The Sea Gulls started off the meet with a win in the 400-meter medley relay. Junior Kathryn Adams, sophomores Radcliffe and Nicole Marders and freshman Bizu Baldinazzo contributed to a final time of 4:56.95 for the convincing win.
The women continued their success in the 200-meter freestyle, tallying the top three finishes in the event. Senior Melissa Alessandrini captured the win, leading the whole way to finish on a time of 2:22.83. Sophomore Rachel Lisk and freshman Bailey Wilson were neck and neck for most of the race, but Lisk pulled away at the end to place second at 2:26.51, while Wilson touched the wall just behind Lisk at 2:26.67 for third place.
In the 400-meter individual medley, Radcliffe shined again, tallying first in a time of 5:28.53, breaking the pool record in the event set in 2006 by Salisbury alum Laura Allen in a time of 5:29.72. Radcliffe led the whole way in the race.
Marders notched another first-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly, touching the wall at 1:09.65. Baldinazzo finished in second in the event, just over three seconds behind Marders, recording a time of 1:12.83.
The 100-meter backstroke was a close race the whole way, with a matter of two seconds separating the top three swimmers. Freshman Kelsey Wumer led the first lap, but sophomoreMaggie Deering pulled ahead on the second lap, keeping the lead the rest of the way and finishing in a time of 1:15.74. Wumer touched the wall for second place in a time of 1:17.10 and Alessandrini finished right behind her in third with a time of 1:17.98.
Radcliffe's third win of the day came in the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing in a time of 1:23.54.
The women's final victory of the day came in the 200-meter freestyle relay, which came down to a thrilling finish that saw the top three places decided by less than a second. A team of sophomoreClaudia Guay, junior Andria Moyer, Alessandrini and Lisk finished first in a time of 2:02.61, while Frostburg in lane three finished just .14 seconds behind for second place. Juniors Kayla Wumer and Nicki Schult, along with sophomore Layne Gable and Adams touched the wall for third place just .17 behind the Bobcats.
Men
The men's team put on a strong showing as well, capturing wins in 10 out of the 11 events on the afternoon.
Sophomores Okan Eyigor and Scott Schirmer, along with freshmen Vincent Carraccio andStephen Arcidiacono started off the meet for the men with a win in the 400-meter medley relay. The squad led the whole way, finishing in a time of 4:21.59, over 10 seconds faster than second place.
In the 800-meter freestyle, sophomore Bill James captured a win, leading the whole way and finished far ahead of the rest of the pack with a time of 9:50.32.
Junior Jake Blazer put one in the win column in the 200-meter freestyle, leading the entire race and touching the wall at 2:06.96.
In the 50-meter freestyle, it was junior Will Gough's turn to collect a win, notching a time of 24.93 in a race that he led the whole time.
Freshman Conor Johnston garnered a first-place finish in the 400-meter individual medley, which was a back-and-forth race that saw Johnston lose the lead on lap 12 and regain it on lap 14, keeping the lead for the rest of the race and recording a time of 5:13.78.
Arcidiacono captured his second win of the day in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing in a time of 1:05.83. Junior Jeremy Powell finished second in the race, right behind Arcidiacono with a time of 1:06.99.
The 100-meter freestyle was another close race, with Gough coming out on top in a time of 55.07, while Blazer finished right behind him in a time of 55.34.
Junior Sean DiFatta put a win on the board in the 100-meter backstroke, leading the whole way to record a time of 1:08.26.
Sophomore Kevin Mejia won in convincing fashion in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 4:31.70, just under 16 seconds in front of James who placed second.
The men's 10th and final win of the day came in the last event, with Blazer, Schirmer, Eyigor and Gough taking first in the 200-meter freestyle relay in a time of 1:41.95.
The Sea Gulls will be back in action on Saturday, November 15 when they host Penn State University-Altoona in non-conference action at Maggs Physical Activities Center. The meet is set to begin at 1 p.m.
