Results
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Messiah women's swimming began the 2018-19 season with a 136-67 victory over the Lycoming Warriors on the road Saturday afternoon. The Falcons claimed eight of the 11 events contested on Saturday afternoon, including six individuals victories and wins in both relays.
Nancie Ziegler led the Falcons in her first collegiate dual with victories in the 200 Free (2:04.20) and the 500 Free (5:40.45).
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Four other Falcons took first-place in individual event including victories by
Britta Heath (1000 Free, 11:35.70),
Cassie Cotton (50 Free, 25.29),
Maelyn Elder (200 Fly, 2:29.23), and
Kaylee Hollenbach (200 Back, 2:14.27).
How it Happened
Messiah started the dual off by winning the first four events. The relay team of
Kaylee Hollenbach,
Nicea McCabe,
Emily Decker, and
Cassie Cotton got the Falcons started with a 16-second victory in the 400 Medley Relay in the first event of the day. The team finished with a time of 4:14.07 ahead of another cast of Falcons,
Molly Elspas,
Alley Sell,
Nicole Clemente, and
Brittany Pond, finishing in second with a time of 4:30.80.
Britta Heath continued the strong Messiah start by winning the 100 Free with a time of 11:35.70. Teammate
Molly Martin took second in the event, just seven seconds behind Heath in a time of 11:42.95.
In the 200 Free, Messiah took the top-three spots with
Nancie Ziegler earning the victory in her first collegiate race of her career with a time of 2:04.20.
Maelyn Elder (2:07.03) and
Brittany Pond (2:08.86) followed to place second and third, respectively.
In addition to her victory in the 200 Free and despite losing her goggles during the event, Ziegler claimed the 500 Free in a time of 5:40.45 for her second individual victory of the day. Ziegler out touched her teammates
Britta Heath (5:41.69) and
Molly Martin (5:43.40), who all finished within three seconds of each other in the 500 yard swim.
Cassie Cotton claimed the 50 Free with a time of 25.29, out touching Lycoming's Cara Zortman (25.94). Messiah's
Kaitlyn Chemidlin finished the event in third-place with a time of 28.08.
Kaylee Hollenbach and
Holly Hagar both turned in top-three finishes in the 200 Back. Hollenbach claimed the event with a time of 2:14.27 while Hagar got to the wall in third with a time of 2:25.73.
Maelyn Elder turned in an impressive victory in the 200 Fly, claiming the event by more than 10 seconds with a time of 2:29.23. Elder had swam in two of the previous three events leading into her victory in the 200 Fly. She had swam in the 200 IM and the 200 Free, taking third and second in the events, respectively.
Also in the 200 IM,
Alley Sell finished in second place with a time of 2:24.89, just over a second ahead of Elder. Sell also placed second in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:42.65.
Messiah also earned a pair of top-three finishes in the 100 Free with
Emily Decker turning in a time of 57.81 good for second place and
Nicea McCabe finishing just behind her in third with a time of 58.00.
The same relay team of Cotton, McCabe, Decker, and Hollenbach that claimed the 400 Medley Relay earned the top spot in the 200 Free Relay, capping off the meet with a first-place finish.
Thoughts From The Team
"My personal highlight was being back with the team and back to racing in the water. It was also so fun to watch the freshmen swim for the first time. This stuck out to me because I love the aspect of building relationships with teammates and seeing God through those relationships. We work hard to support each other." -
Kaitlyn Chemidlin
"I'm happy overall with how we raced, but I'm looking forward to getting more specific with strategy and technical work now that I've seen specific strengths and weaknesses in competition." - Head Coach
Katie McComb
What's Up Next
Messiah will be back in the pool next Saturday when they travel to Widener to take on the Pride and Hood Blazers in a double-dual at 1:00 p.m.
