Swimcloud

Loras Sweeps Simpson

The Loras College swimming and diving team swept the Storm of Simpson College Friday night in San Jose Pool. The women were victorious 116-90  while the men won 110-97, moving each team to 3-1 and 2-0 in the Iowa Conference.

The meet kicked off with the 400  medley relay. The women's side made up of senior Mary Kathryn Maher, senior Clare Ehlbeck, junior Logan Miller, and senior Renee Beach placed first with a time of 4:25.08. Maher provided the Duhawks with an early lead, while Ehlbeck's strong second leg put them in front for good. On the men's side, the Duhawks grabbed first and second. The first place team, made up of sophomore Ike Casey, senior Matthew DeWane, junior Zach Benson, and senior Grant Duncan, finised in  3:51.75. Coming in second was the team  made up of freshman Thomas Priewe, freshman David Hayes, freshman Dillan Schweinler, and freshman Danny Cepeda, placed second with a time of 4:09.74.

In the 1000  freestyle relay, junior Heather Black and freshman Kim Breaux finished first and second respectively. Black's impressive performance came in her first appearance of the season in the 1000 free. Coming into Friday's meet Black had participated in 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, and 500 free as an individual. Her jump to long distance fueled the Duhawks, as she finished over one minute ahead of the Storm's swimmer.   Following the women's lead, junior Antonio Gonzalez placed second for men, shaving 18 seconds of his previous time.

Maher and Miller led the way for the women in the 200  freestyle relay, finishing in the top two spots. Maher finished with a time of 2:07.53 with teammate Miller just behind her, finishing with a time of 2:13.57. Just as the women did before them, senior Matthew Bogen and sophomore Michael Krol earned the one-two sweep for the men.
For the fourth event of the night, the 50 freestyle, both the women's and men's sides took first and third. For the women's, senior Alexis Mollahan took first (26.35), her top finish of the season in the event. Rounding out the top three was Beach who took third (27.83). On the other side, it was Benson in first (22.92) and Duncan in third (24.14). Benson placed first for the men in his first attempt of the season at the 50 free, taking just 22.92 to finish. Just over a second behind him was Duncan, whose third place finish tallied three points for his squad.

In the 200 individual medley Loras was paced by a pair of top two finishes. Ehlbeck set the pace for the women, taking first after finishing well ahead of the pack (2:23.28). Junior Elise Amo used an early edge to take second (2:31.49), completing the sweep for the women. On the men's side, junior Gregory Cormier (2:13.17) finished less than a second behind Simpson's McKim.Schweinler rounded out the top three, finishing in 2:18.04.  

In the 100 fly, Breaux turned in her best performance of the evening. After the strongest opening split in the field, Breaux finished four seconds ahead of the field to take first. Continuing his impressive season, Casey turned in a top performance for the men. The first place finish marked his first in the event for the season. Casey was followed closely by DeWane who edged out the Storm to take second.
 
After a second place finish by Black in the 100 backstroke, the men picked up where Casey and DeWane left off. Building off the momentum for the one-two sweep in the 100 fly, Cormier and Priewe put the Duhawks in front. Cormier recorded his first top finish in the event while, Priewe took second.

The Loras women turned in their best performance of the night in the 500 free. Amo, Mollahan and Maher swept the event, finishing first, second, and third respectively. The sweep marked the first time this season Loras has finished in the top three spots. Freshman David Hayes finished third for the men, pushing their lead over the Storm to 99-93.

While the women had already clinched the win, the men's outcome came down to the last event. With the score close, Loras Head Coach Doug Colin elected to make a change to preserve his team's lead. Putting together a team of Cormier, Duncan, Benson, and Casey paid off as the Duhawks finished nearly 10 seconds ahead of their competitors to clinch the win.
 
"I actually had to make a relay change to make sure that we were solid," Colin said."I just wanted to make sure we were in the best position,  I knew we had the speed there if we needed it in the end."

With little rest, the Duhawks will return to San Jose Pool Saturday afternoon when they host Grinnell College. The dual is set to start at 1 p.m.

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