Results
Dallas, PA - The Messiah College women's swim team won seven of 11 events to defeat Misericordia on the road, earning their first-ever victory over the Cougars. The Falcons swam to a 117-87 decision, as they also moved to 7-2 in the MAC.
The men battled through each event, picking up wins in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Despite their efforts, the Falcons couldn't overtake the Cougars (5-5), losing 130-72.
"This was an exciting night for our program," head coach
Nancy Luley said. "For the women to get this win tonight just shows how much depth we have. The team support was really great throughout the entire meet, which really helped the guys to fight until the very end."
The men saw individual event wins from juniors
Nate Brown and
Daniel Wingert. Several other close races resulted in second place finishes in five different events.
Brown returned to the pool after a lengthy illness to win the 50-free with a time of :22.70, while Wingert's time of 1:03.64 was superior in the 100-breaststroke. Junior
Reid Hartzell joined Wingert in the 100-breaststroke, finishing fifth with a time of 1:11.59 earning yet another MAC cut for the Falcons (6-6, 6-3).
On the women's side, Messiah (7-5, 7-2) took control of the meet from the very beginning, winning the 200-yard medley relay to remain undefeated in the event. With a time of 1:55.48, the team of senior
Katelynn Sagaser, senior
Angela Klaczak, sophomore
Laura Penwell, and junior
Hanna Schaffer bested their competition by almost three seconds.
Sagaser, Klaczak, and Schaffer all went on to win individual events as well. Sagaser took the lead early in the 200-yard individual medley and never looked back. Winning the event with a time of 2:21.29. In the 100-yard breastroke, Klaczak out-touched the field to win by the narrowest of margins. Her time of 1:13.47 was just :00.01 faster than her closest opponent. Schaffer also found herself in a tight race in the 50-yard freestyle, but won the event with a time of :25.64. Breanna Grzech of Misericordia (5-7) came in second at :25.82.
Other individual event wins came from sophomore
Lauren Clune in the 1000-yard freestyle (11:32.08) and freshman
Anna McArdle in the 100-yard freestyle (:56.75).
Another notable performance came from sophomore
Carolyn Lewis, who earned a MAC cut with a time of 2:49.89 in the 200-yard butterfly.
The women closed out the evening with a solid win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Clune, freshman
Caitlin Magaw, McArdle, and Schaffer combined for the win with a time of 3:49.43.
"The women's performance tonight was really spectacular," Luley said. "Not only does the win build confidence, but it also puts us in the mix to be at the top of conference championships, which is really exciting."
With the conference championship just a few weeks away, the Falcons have one more competitive opportunity to help them prepare for the main event. Tomorrow afternoon, Messiah will recognize their seniors and close out their regular season when they host the Dutchmen of Lebanon Valley College. Swimming begins at 1:00 p.m.
