The Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams competed in the Zippy Invitational this past weekend in Akron, Ohio.
The event ran Friday through Sunday at Akron University’s Ocasek Natatorium. The men’s team took fifth while the women’s team took sixth.
Coach Mark Vandyke said, “We performed very well. We qualified 11 female swimmers and divers for nationals and seven male swimmers and divers.”
The men’s team fell to fifth place behind fourth place Duquesne, third place St. Bonaventure, second place Buffalo and first place Xavier.
Seniors Ryan Thiel and Rich Eckert both took a second place. Thiel took second in the 100 free while Eckert took second in the 200 breaststroke.
Thiel also took first place in the 50 free and third place in the 200 free. Joe Ward followed Thiel in the 50 free taking sixth while Christopher Ellson finished eighth.
Jon Kofmehl took sixth place in the 200 back, fifth in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 backstroke.
Also placing in the 200 IM was AJ Claypool in sixth and Rich Eckert in seventh.
Benjamin Appleby took fourth place in the 200 free followed by teammate Dustin Fedunok in eighth.
Kofmehl, Eckert, Claypool and Thiel took first in the 200 free relay, Kofmehl, Eckert, Garet Weston and Thiel took fifth in the 200 medley, Claypool, Appleby, Fedunok and Thiel took third in the 400 free relay and Fedunok, Weston, Robert Schwartz and Appleby took fifth in the 800 free relay.
Placing in the 3 meter dive was Logan Pearsall in third, Justin Duncan in sixth and Steven Cutler in eighth.
The women’s team finished in sixth place behind Ohio University (first), Buffalo, Akron, Illinois State and Duquesne (fifth). Kaitlyn Johnson tied for first place in the 100 free, took second in the 100 fly and third in the 500 free.
Morgan Oberlander finished second in the 200 butterfly, third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 400 IM.
Kelly Connolly took second in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 200 IM.
Kayla Shull and Courtney Boque followed each other in the 100 backstroke taking sixth and seventh place.
Samantha VanDyke finished fifth in the 200 fly and Gina Mattucci took eighth in the 100 free.
Taking second place in the 400 medley relay was the team of Boque, Connolly, Johnson and Mattucci. Johnson, Shull, Connolly and Mattucci took third in the 400 free relay, Johnson, Mattucci, Maloney and Connolly took fourth in the 200 free relay and the team of Shull, Connolly, Johnson and Mattucci took third in the 200 medley. For diving, Kayla Kelosky took third in the 1 meter and second in the 3 meter. While teammate Jena Gardone took sixth in the 1 meter and fourth in the 3 meter.
Coach VanDyke said, “As a whole the team will keep preparing the same way. Some individuals will change some things about their training so hopefully they will swim faster at PSAC’s and nationals.”
Both teams will have a little break from the meets before they return to action January 23rd when they compete against Edinboro, Gannon and Ashland at Warren Harding High School. Without a schedule until after Christmas break, the team won’t have any problem staying motivated. Coach VanDyke said, “We will be training in Florida from Jan. 2-14. 80 degrees is a great motivator.”