The Union College men’s and women’s swimming teams traveled to Cumberlands (Ky.) for their first meet of the 2014-2015 season on Friday night.
The Patriots won both meets with a 123-67 win in the men’s competition and a 120-64 win in the women’s competition.
“It was a well fought meet,” said head coach Rafael Forti. “You could tell both teams were tired from training, but it was still a very competitive meet I like the fact that we competed hard throughout the entire meet despite the fact that some of our swimmers were not swimming their main events.”
Union posted two NAIA National Qualifying marks in the competition, with both coming in 200-yard medley relays. The Bulldogs won six events on the day with the men and women winning three each.
The women started the meet off posting an “A” cut in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:54.95. The men followed suit with an “A” cut of 1:44.26.
The Bulldogs got their first win on the day with Dalton Baxter taking the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:07.30.
The women received their first win in the 200-yard freestyle when Callie Harrigan hit the wall at 1:59.39.
Harrigan earned her second first place finish on the day in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.66. Moore added two more first place finishes on the day in the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.96) and 500-yard freestyle (4:58.37).
Julie Stein picked up a first place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke when she hit the wall at 2:31.82.
Lara Kaufmann placed second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:15.40 while Kellianne Holck finished third at 11:43.32.
In the men 200-yard freestyle, Moore finished second (1:48.84) while Dalton Baxter place third (1:54.74).
The 50-yard freestyle saw Nathan Lethbridge finish second for the men hitting the wall at 22.01 and Eliska Melicharova finished third for the women at 26.46. Lethbridge finished second in the 100-yard freestyle, hitting the wall in 49.21 while Melicharova finished second in 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:19.65.
The 400-yard IM saw the Bulldogs take second in the men’s and women’s. Stein placed second with a time of 5:03.79. Dustin Dyer hit the wall for the men at 4:34.09.
Torger Torgersen finished second 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:08.93 and second in the 200-yard breaststroke, hitting the wall at 2:21.19.
“All in all, it is always good to open the season against good competition and that is what we had today,” Forti said. “I know we are on the right path and I am eager to return to the pool to tune up some details observed in the meet.”
Up next
The Bulldogs next meet will be next Friday against Milligan (Tenn.) and Mars Hill (N.C.). The meet is set to start at 4 p.m. on Milligan’s campus.
