The defending Bluegrass Mountain Conference champion Wingate University men's and women's swimming teams won 26 of 28 events en route to a twin bill sweep over St. Andrews University Saturday at the O'Herron Pool. The Wingate women claimed a 196-37 victory, while the Bulldog men posted a 168-65 triumph. The doubleheader was the season-opening dual meet for both schools.
"I was pleasantly surprised with our performances today," Wingate head coach Kirk Sanocki says. "This was a great meet for us to start the season. I didn't think we would do poorly by any means...but with the number of newcomers we have...along with the fact we were on the road...I wasn't sure."
The Bulldogs have 12 freshmen (seven men, five women) on their 2014-15 rosters. "Our new people did very well today," Sanocki says. "We are expecting good things (from them). After six weeks of training, our newcomers are learning the system."
"We must carry this work forward," Sanocki says. "We have much room for improvement. As I say every day, this is a year-long process for both our new swimmers and our veterans. Right now, I couldn't be happier with our start to the 2014-15 season."
Wingate men 168, St. Andrews 65
Wingate sophomore Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany) won three individual events and one relay race to lead the Bulldogs. Junior Roman Kanyuka (Moscow, Russia) and freshman Jerome Heidrich (Hamburg, Germany) won two individual contests and one relay each for the visitors. Six WU student-athletes won at least one individual event.
Kluver and Heidrich concluded their respective days by taking the 200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:26.06. They teamed with senior Issam Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium) and sophomore Lucas Cuadros (Cali, Colombia). Kluver won the 1000 Freestyle (10:04.36), the 100 Freestyle (47.32, touching out Zeraidi) and the 500 Freestyle (4:48.41).
In his first meet as a Bulldog, Heidrich took the checkered flag in the 200 Freestyle (1:42.79) and the 100 Butterfly (53.15). Kanyuka won started his work day by swimming the second leg on the victorious 200 Medley Relay quartet (1:35.68). Individually, Kanyuka won his signature events: the 100 Breaststroke (57.21) and the 200 Breaststroke (2:06.49).
"Roman had a very good first meet," Sanocki says. "Issam was solid today with one individual win and two relay victories. I thought Jerome had a good debut. Junior Damjan Petrovski (Skopje, Macedonia) swam untraditional events (for him)...and made his time in the pool count."
Wingate women 196, St. Andrews 37
Wingate sophomore Sofia Petrenko (Arkhangelsk, Russia) matched classmate Klüver with three individual victories as the Bulldogs won 14-of-14 contests Saturday. Redshirt sophomore Olga Kosheleva (Yekaterinburg, Russia) won two individual events and one relay for the visitors. Nine Wingate student-athletes won at least one individual event in their season debut.
Petrenko touched first in the 200 Freestyle (1:53.48), the 200 Butterfly (2:08.84) and the 200 Individual Medley (2:09.33). Kosheleva mirrored Kanyuka's flight path, as she helped three teammates win the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:48.07. On her own, Koshelev won both Breaststroke competitions: the 100 (1:06.54) and the 200 (2:24.60).
"Sofia had her normal, solid All-American performance," Sanocki says. "Olga looked tremendous today. Freshman Leigh-Ann Clark (Newport News, Va.) had a very good opening meet with her victories in the 100 Freestyle and the 200 Freestyle Relay."
Wingate will travel to Charlotte Saturday, Nov. 1 to face BMC foe Queens at the Levine Center (1 p.m. first contest). In 2013, the Wingate men earned a hard-fought 140-105 road victory on Nov. 6. The host Royals won the 2013 women's head-to-head event by a slim margin of 123-122. The final event (800 Freestyle Relay) settled the women's outcome.
The St. Andrews University swim team hosted Division II foe Wingate University on Saturday inside O’Herron Pool in the Knights' first home meet of the season. However, Wingate won both the men's and women's portions of the race.
Sophomore Georgi Krastev (SO/Pinellas Park, FL) was the big winner for St. Andrews as he won both the 100 yard and 200 yard backstroke for the Knights. He beat four other competitors including his teammate Franky Gilligan (FR/Cornelius, NC) to win the 100 yard backstroke in a time of 51.69 seconds. He then took the 200 yard crown with a time of 1:55.4 to topple five other swimmers including teammate Teo Boscaino (SR/Tampa, FL) who came in fifth in 2:00 flat.
Krastev also led the 200 yard medley relay team to a runner-up finish with a time of 1:36.28. The team also included sophomores Ryan Frayne (SO/Virginia Beach, VA), Drew Gurley (SO/Newport News, VA), and Josh Dixon (SO/Durban, S. Africa).
Frayne also had a good day as he placed third out of 7 in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:49.19 while teammate Cameron Dixon (SO/Gerrardstown, WV) was fifth in 1:51.42. The winner from Wingate finished a good five seconds in front of the field as the Bulldogs swam well all day. Frayne was also the runner up in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:10.9.
The St. Andrews men also dominated the 100 yard butterfly as they took 3 of the top four placers in the 7 man event. Leading that was J. Dixon who came in second in 54.69 seconds and he was followed by Gurley in third (55 seconds) and Krastev in fourth (56.4). Dixon was also the runner-up in the 50 yard freestyle finishing in 22.1 seconds and just missing the top finisher from Wingate by .1 seconds.
The men also swam well in the final race of the day, the 200 yard freestyle relay, as they finished 2nd in 1:28.45 and the team consisted of Dixon, Jake Anderson (SO/Springfield, VA), Elliot Boon (SO/Somerset, UK), and Boscaino.
Wingate would go on to win the men's race 168-65.
The women were led by Triniti Counter (SR/Scottsbluff, NE)'s runner-up finish in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:14.45 while she also came up just shy and placed second in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.85 just one second off the winning time. Her teammate, freshman Tarryn Holmes (FR/Johannesburg, South Africa), also finished third in the event with a time of 1:03.4.
The women's 200 yard freestyle relay team then placed second with a time of 1:43.94 and consisted of Counter, Holmes, Choolwe Laurens (FR/Lusaka, Zambia), and Alex Persinger (SO/Yorktown, VA). Holmes also finished a respectable fourth in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 57.56 seconds. However Wingate toppled the women 196-37.
The SAU swimmers will next be competing in a tri-meet with Old Dominion (Va.) and Duke University on November 8 at 2 pm in Norfolk, Va.
