GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's swimming team opened the 2021-22 season on Saturday afternoon by hosting the Widener Pride, Hood Blazers, and King's Monarchs for a meet in Fredericksen Natatorium. The Falcons went 3-0 on the day, picking up triple-digit victories over Hood (160-42) and King's (168.5-29.5) while edging Widener y a 114-90 final score.
The Falcons won six of the 11 events contested on the women's side on Saturday with five different Falcons winning individual events.
Nancie Ziegler (1000 Free),
Lauren Mock (200 Free),
Katelyn Boyce (200 IM),
Sophie Schulze (500 Free), and
Evangeline Soerens (200 Breast) all claimed individual events on the day. Messiah also won the final relay of the day in the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:44.76, just out touching the Widener Pride by less than a second.
The Falcons begin the season 3-0 in duals and will be back in the pool next weekend when they travel to Glenside to take on the Arcadia Knights at 12:00 p.m.
Messiah showed their depth right off the bat in the first event of the season, finishing with two relay teams in the top three in the 200 Medley Relay. The team of
Sophie Schulze,
Abigail Soerens,
Erin Goudie, and
Marie Hagemaster took second with a time of 1:53.73 while the team of
Libby Gorske,
Rachel Bruns,
Katelyn Boyce, and
Lainey Flanagan finished in third with a mark of 1:58.88.
Nancie Ziegler claimed the 1000 Free with a time of 11:16.88 to start the Falcons' winning ways. Ziegler finished nearly 30 seconds clear of the field.
Caitlin Ross was third in the event with a mark of 11:51.84.
Lauren Mock won her first collegiate race in the 200 Free, getting to the wall in 2:04.31. The Falcons added
Rachel Bruns (fourth, 2:08.50) and
Evangeline Soerens (fifth, 2:09.65) in the top-five to mark the first of four races on the day where Messiah had three of the top-five fastest finishers.
Just after
Erin Goudie (third, 26.28),
Abigail Soerens (fifth, 26.78), and
Libby Gorske (sixth, 27.42) all turned in top-six finishes in the 50 Free,
Katelyn Boyce won the 200 IM by nearly two and a half seconds. Boyce's time of 2:20.73 led the field and paced three Falcons in the top-five once again.
Lauren Cotton (2:23.36) finished in third and
Marie Hagemaster (2:27.87) took fifth in the 200 IM.
Boyce made a bid to be Messiah's lone individual to claim multiple victories on Saturday, but she was just barely out touched in the 200 Fly and settled for second place. Boyce finished the race with a time of 2:19.83, just behind Widener's Angelina Franceschini (2:19.76).
In what was arguably Messiah's best race of the day,
Sophie Schulze and
Nancie Ziegler went one-two in the 500 Free. Schulze won the event with a time of 5:30.14, but Ziegler was on her heels with a mark of 5:33.18. Third place finished over 11 seconds after Ziegler.
Evangeline Soerens led three Falcons in the top four of the 200 Breast. Soerens won the event with a time of 2:34.69 while
Lauren Cotton took second (2:39.20) and
Rachel Bruns finished in fourth (2:40.42).
In the 100 Free, Messiah locked down the second, third, and fifth positions with strong swims from
Erin Goudie (second, 56.96),
Lauren Mock (third, 58.22), and
Lauren Cotton (fifth, 58.81).
Lainey Flanagan took second in the 200 Back with a time of 2:19.81.
Messiah ended their day by winning the 200 Free Relay with the team of
Abigail Soerens,
Marie Hagemaster,
Sophie Schulze, and
Lainey Flanagan turning in a mark of 1:44.76, winning the event by less than a second ahead of Widener (1:45.41).
As mentioned, the Falcons will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Arcadia to take on the Knights at 12:00 p.m. in Glenside, Pa.
