GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's swim team opened the 2019-20 season with a double-dual against the Widener Pride and Hood Blazers on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons handled the Blazers by a score of 173-98, but were edged out by the Pride 147-130. Messiah claimed three individual events along with both of the relays contested in the double-dual.
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Alley Sell led the Falcons by winning a pair of individual events, claiming the 100 Breast (1:11.52) and the 200 Breast (2:39.28) while
Nancie Ziegler dominated the 1000 Free in a time of 11:23.85.
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The Falcons bookended their day by winning the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 4:18.91 to start the afternoon. They then closed out their effort with a victory in the 200 Free Relay, getting to the wall in 1:44.39, just barely ahead of a second-place Widener team (1:44.46).
Messiah's 400 Medley Relay team of
Molly Elspas,
Rachel Bruns,
Alley Sell, and
Emily Griesemer help the Falcons to a victory in their very first race of the season. The middle two splits from Bruns and Sell were the deciding factor in the victory, both were the fastest of any team in the pool during their leg. Messiah's finishing time of 4:18.91, wasa more than two seconds faster than Widener's secon-place time of 4:21.14.
Nancie Ziegler kept the winning ways going for the Falcons with a first-place finish in second women's event of the meet, the 1000 Free. Ziegler kept a consistent pace throughout, with splits in the mid-34 second range. Her finishing time of 11:23.85 was more than 30 seconds ahead of Teresa Lapointe from Widener (11:57.54) in second-place.
In addition to her winning time in the 1000 Free, Ziegler turned in top-three finishes in the 200 Free (third, 2:06.27) and the 500 Free (second, 5:39.48).
As mentioned,
Alley Sell highlighted the day for the Falcons with a pair of individual victories. In the 100 Breast (1:11.52), Sell came roaring back in the final 50 yards to win the event. Her final split time of 37.51 was a second and a half faster than any other competitor in the event. Later in the meet, Sell claimed the 200 Breast in a time of 2:39.28. This time she set the pace for the race, leading for a majority of the 200 yards. Sell also competed in the 100 Fly, placing third with a time of 1:05.60.
Rachel Burns finished within a second of the winning time set by
Alley Sell in the 200 Breast. Burns' mark of 2:40.27 placed her third.
Competing in her first collegiate meet,
Katelyn Boyce also had a strong day for the Falcons, turning in three second-place finishes in the 200 Fly (2:19.74), the 100 Fly (1:02.41), and the 200 IM (2:16.54).
Molly Elspas placed third, one spot behind Boyce in the 200 IM in a time of 2:26.15 for one of her two third-place finishes on the day. Elspas also took third in the 100 Back (1:07.03).
Also swimming in her first college races,
Emily Griesemer turned in a pair of strong individual showings, taking second in the 100 Free (58.85) and third in the 50 Free (26.46). Her time in the 50 Free was less than a second behind the winning time from Jill Bujanowski (Widener, 25.53).
The Falcons capped off the day with a victory in the 200 Free Relay in a time of 1:44.39. The team of Griesemer,
Nicea McCabe, Ziegler, and Burns held off the Widener relay team (1:44.46) by just seven hundredths of a second to claim the final race of the afternoon.
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Messiah will be back in action next weekend when they host the Arcadia Knights on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
