Wingate jumped out to a day-one lead against Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba on Friday.
Wingate Press Release
Charlotte, N.C.----The nationally-ranked Wingate University swimming teams lead the Wingate Quad meet after the first day at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center Friday. The Bulldog men have 323 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (226) and Catawba (184). The Wingate women have 362 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (208) and Catawba (112). The meet concludes with a full slate of action Saturday.
Women's recap
The 'Dogs touched first in eight of eight events contested Friday. Wingate took the first, second, and third place spots in the 200 Freestyle Relay, along with the top three places in the 400 Medley Relay.
WU sophomore Hanna Van Horen (Hofstade, Belgium) led the Bulldogs with two first-place individual finishes in the 500 (5:11.66) and 100 Freestyle (53.03). Senior Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia) continues a stellar start to her final season in the Navy Blue and Vegas Gold with a first-place finish in the 200 Backstroke (2:01.95).
Senior Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) took home the gold in the 100 Breaststroke (1:05.29). Freshman Charlotte Knippenburg (Atlanta, Ga.) earned her first collegiate individual triumph with a first-place victory in the 200 Butterfly with a time of 2:08.64. Her classmate Abby Kosic (West Chester, Pa.) was the individual champion in the 200 Individual Medley with a clocking of 2:12.16.
Men's recap
The 13th-ranked Wingate Bulldogs finished first in six out of eight events. WU senior Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany) earned the gold medal in the first men's individual event (200 Individual Medley) with a time of 1:55.79. Redshirt junior Sebastian Holmberg (Stockholm, Sweden) touched first in the 200 Breaststroke with a 1:51.70 clocking.
Freshman Leo Zabudkin (Frankfurt, Germany) earned his first career top individual finish in 100 Breaststroke (57.61). Bulldog junior Lennart Queiss (Langen, Germany) took home the individual crown in the 100 Freestyle, posting a final time of 46.89. Catawba freshman Mario Zaninovic (Zagreb, Croatia) led the Indians with two first-place individual finishes in the 500 Freestyle (4:42.15) and 200 Butterfly (1:55.59).
The host Wingate Bulldogs will be back in action Saturday in the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center in Charlotte when they welcome the LRU Bears and the Catawba Indians for day two of the Wingate Quad Meet. The first event is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
Catawba Press Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Catawba opened Wingate's two-day Quad Meet on Friday at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center with freshman Mario Zaninovic claiming a pair of individual wins. Catawba collected 184 points on the men's side with the women picking up 112 points.
Zaninovic grabbed his first win in the night's sixth event, winning the 500 free. The freshman touched in a time of 4:42.15 three seconds ahead of teammate Ali Hegazi. Zaninovic came back to win the final individual event of the night, the 200 fly, as he touched in a time of 1:55.59 to edge Wingate's Niklas Martin by just over three-tenths of a second.
Other top swims for the men went to Federico Borrego Higareda, who was second in the 100 breast (58.20) and third in both the 200 IM (1:58.20) and 100 free (47.33). Dominik Brus took fourth in the i200 fly (1:56.76) and Michael King placed fourth in the 500 free (4:55.61).
The women got a pair of fourth-place finishes from Emily Najar in the 500 free (5:25.60) and 200 fly (2:20.79). Cassie Shear also a fourth place which came in the 100 breast (1:09.62). Amy Cujas took fifth in the 200 IM (2:17.94) and sixth in the 100 free (55.93).
The meet will continue Saturday at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center.
