The Salisbury University men's and women's swimming teams fell to St. Mary's College of Maryland on Saturday in their final home meet of the season, with the men losing 132-130 and the women being defeated 143-118.
Men
The men's squad started off the meet strong, notching a victory in the 400-meter medley relay. A team of sophomore Okan Eyigor, juniors Will Gough and Jake Blazer and senior Daniel Kellertook the top spot in a time of 4:09.41, leading the race the entire way.
In the 50-meter freestyle, Gough took first again, touching the wall at 24.04 seconds, which broke a Maggs Physical Activities Center pool record that was set in 2004 by a Frostburg State University swimmer. Gough's final win of the day, with the help of senior Rich Ambrose, sophomore Scott Schirmer and Blazer, came in the 400-meter freestyle relay, as the team finished in a time of 3:48.02.
Keller also notched three wins on the day, with his second win coming in the 200-meter butterfly (2:15.97) and his third victory of the afternoon in the 100-meter butterfly (1:00.02).
Along with Gough and Keller, Blazer was victorious three times during the meet as well, with his third win coming in the 100-meter freestyle in a time of 55.90 seconds. Blazer jumped off the block quickly in the event and led the entire race.
In the 200-meter backstroke, Eyigor shot off the wall fast and never looked back, taking the victory and swimming to a time 2:13.61 in a race that he led the whole way. Eyigor also took second in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing in a time of 2:08.20.
Junior Sean DiFatta finished a close second in the 100-meter backstroke, touching the wall at 1:08.84, just under a second behind first place, while sophomore Kevin Drury took second in the 100-meter breaststroke in a time of 1:16.87.
Women
The women's team also had a successful afternoon, notching four wins during the meet.
Freshman Bizu Baldinazzo took two of those victories, winning the 200-meter freestyle in a time of 2:15.72 and the 100-meter freestyle, touching the wall at 1:02.10. Baldinazzo led the whole time in both events. Sophomore Victoria Radcliffe was right behind her in the 100-meter freestyle, taking second in a time of 1:03.47 after battling back and forth with St. Mary's Zoe McIlmail for the spot.
Radcliffe also placed first in the 200-meter individual medley, taking the lead on the final lap to finish in a time of 2:32.00, which was half a second ahead of second place. In the 100-meter breaststroke, Radcliffe recorded another second-place finish, which was good for a time of 1:21.11.
Sophomore Maggie Deering took first in a back-and-forth race in the 200-meter backstroke, edging ahead for the victory with a time of 2:39.10. Deering also had a second-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke in a time of 1:15.21.
In the 50-meter freestyle, sophomore Nicole Marders notched second place in a time of 30.01 seconds after touching the wall less than a second behind the winner. Marders also took second in the 100-meter butterfly, swimming side by side with the Seahawks' Cara Machlin before touching the wall .44 seconds after Machlin for a time of 1:09.78.
Junior Nicki Schult captured a second-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle in another close race, finishing in a time of 4:52.51, less than a second slower than first place.
A team of sophomore Layne Gable, Baldinazzo, Radcliffe and Schult notched a second-place finish in the 400-meter medley relay in a time of 4:51.67.
Gable and Schult also helped the Sea Gulls take second in the 400-meter freestyle relay, along with junior Andria Moyer and Marders, recording a time 4:29.41 finish.
In the 200-meter butterfly, Gable took second again, finishing the race in a time of 2:41.76.
Salisbury will not have a meet for three weeks, until they travel to St. Mary's to compete in the CAC Championships on February 20-22.
St. Mary's College of Maryland women's swimming won 10 of 14 events Saturday afternoon as the Seahawks closed out the Capital Athletic Conference regular-season at Salisbury University. St. Mary's (11-3, 4-1 CAC) posted a convincing 143-118 win over the host Sea Gulls (3-6, 2-3 CAC) to finish second in the CAC standings.
Junior Cara Machlin (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) left the Maggs Physical Activities Center Pool with four gold medals and 40 points to pace the Seahawks while seniors Hannah Hafey (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) and Brooke Raab (Parkton, Md./Hereford) each picked up three golds.
St. Mary's started the meet with a win in the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:43.90 behind the efforts of Hafey, Raab, Machlin, and junior Zoe McIlmail (Frederick, Md./Urbana).
Junior Elaina Kohles (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) captured the next event for the Seahawks as Kohles led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 800 freestyle, winning the event in 10:08.72. First-year Rachel Sonnenberg (Derwood, Md./Magruder) followed suit with a second-place finish in 10:31.71 while junior Karlie Straight (Ocean City, Md./Stephen Decatur) finished third in 10:37.45.
After a second-place finish by Machlin in the 200 freestyle (2:17.87), St. Mary's won the next four events. Hafey started the run with a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke as she touched the wall first in 1:12.67 while Straight placed third in 1:16.26. Raab was next with a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:19.46) while Kohles took third in 1:25.13.
Machlin continued the team's winning ways by claiming top honors in the 200 butterfly in 2:37.38 while Sonnenberg was third in 2:45.70. Hafey bookended the 4-0 run with a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle in 29.23.
The Seahawks had a 3-4-5 finish in the 100 freestyle as McIlmail went third (1:03.76) followed by senior captain Kelsey Abernathy (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) in fourth (1:04.50) and junior Katie Andersen (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) in fifth (1:09.47).
Straight finished second in the 200 backstroke in 2:40.04 before Raab sparked a 3-0 run with a first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:55.76. Kohles then won the 400 freestyle in 4:52.15 while Machlin earned her second individual gold with a win in the 100 butterfly in 1:09.34. Raab finished out the individual events for St. Mary's with a second-place finish in the 200 individual medley in 2:32.50.
The Seahawks ended the meet with a win in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:20.39 as McIlmail, Machlin, Kohles, and Abernathy swam on the relay.
St. Mary's will end its regular-season at home next Saturday, January 31st as the Seahawks welcome The Catholic University of America to the Aquatics Center at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference dual meet.
St. Mary's College of Maryland men's swimming won a thriller out on the Eastern Shore Saturday afternoon as the Seahawks posted a come-from-behind 132-130 victory in their Capital Athletic Conference regular-season finale at Salisbury University. St. Mary's and Salisbury each won seven events in the 14-event dual meet.
St. Mary's (6-8, 3-2 CAC) overcame an 88-81 deficit with key wins by sophomore Matt Walchuck (Middletown, Md./Middletown) in the 400 freestyle and the 200 individual medley.
Walchuck's first-place finish in the 400 free returned the lead to the Seahawks, 108-99, with three events remaining. Salisbury (2-7, 1-4 CAC) claimed the event, 100 butterfly, to close the gap to 117-109 before Walchuck struck again in the 200 IM for a 128-117 SMCM lead with the 400 freestyle relay remaining.
The Sea Gulls picked up first- and third-place finishes in the last event but the win remained out of reach as St. Mary's second-place finish sealed the two-point win. Swimming on the relay were junior Michael Speer (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), sophomore Andrew Braker (Olney, Md./Sherwood), senior captain Bobby Witkop (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase), and junior Zach Lilley (Myersville, Md./Middletown).
St. Mary's will end its regular-season at home next Saturday, January 31st as the Seahawks welcome The Catholic University of America to the Aquatics Center at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference dual meet.
After claiming second- and third-place finishes in the 400 medley relay to start the meet, St. Mary's captured the next four events. Junior Grant Burgess (Fallston, Md./Fallston) started the win streak with a win in the 800 freestyle in 9:12.11 while first-year Max Madden (Cape St. Clair, Md./Broadneck) came in second in 9:32.81.
Walchuck then captured the 200 freestyle in 2:04.67 while sophomore Andrew Braun (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) took third (2:08.67). Braker claimed first in the 100 backstroke in 1:07.89 for St. Mary's third straight win. First-year Kieran Broder (Olney, Md./Georgetown Prep) capped the 4-0 run with a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.43.
Witkop finished second in the 200 butterfly in 2:21.56 while junior Kian Karimi (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson) placed third (2:23.17). It was another 2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle as Lilley finished second in 25.73 followed by Speer just 0.08 seconds later for third.
Witkop picked up his second second-place finish in the 100 freestyle in 58.08 while Speer was third just 0.17 seconds later for third. Lilley notched another second-place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:24.65.
Broder picked up his second gold of the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:41.82 while Madden finished third in 2:49.28.
