Women's Swimming | 10/27/2023 10:44:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. –  The Huskies and Golden Ram's come together in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in a Pink-Out.

Both teams came together in support of breast cancer awareness, with both teams wearing bright pink caps in support of those affected by breast cancer.

In the October polling of the College Swimming & Diving Coach Association of America (CSCAA), West Chester received Top-25 Rankings in all of Division II for both the men's and women's programs. Their women are currently ranked #6, and their men are currently ranked #19. This did not suede the Huskies from putting up a fight.

We would have to wait until the 4^th event of the evening to see the Huskies secure their first 1^st-Place finish. Holding steady 29's, freshman Matthew Boehme would bring home the gold in the 1000-Yard Freestyle with a time of 9:47.06.
Not long after that, Ethan Coffman (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) would sneak his way into winning the 200 Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:43.70, improving his time from the previous meet by 3 seconds.

In the very next event, Rylee Wenzel (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) would give the women their first 1^st-Place finish of the night in the 50 Yard Freestyle with a time of 24.03.

We would have to wait only five minutes for the next Huskies win, where Nick Zaffiro (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) narrowly edged out the win with a time 4:11.34. The second-place finisher came in only half-a-second behind him.

Heading into the first break, the Rams led 41-16 on the women's side, but only 40-36 on the men's side.

Coming out of the break, West Chester would go on to win the both men's and women's 100-Yard Butterfly, but immediately following Wenzel would dominate the 100-Yard Freestyle. She would go on to win the event with a time of 51.86. This put her only .63 seconds off her own team record of 51.23, and it was only the second meet of the season. She has earned an NCAA Division II B-Cut with her performance.

The last win for Bloomsburg would come in the final event of the evening with the Boys 200-Yard Freestyle Relay. The team of Jack Drake (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg Area), Ian Hamilton (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands), Andrew Holmes (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway), and Ethan Coffman (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) would bring home the Huskies' final gold of the evening with a time of 1:24.76.

The final score would end up being for the women West Chester: 120 – Bloomsburg: 49, and for the men West Chester: 116 – Bloomsburg: 72. Although the scores indicate a loss, the Huskies were very much successful. The Huskies walked away with at least 20 individual PSAC Championship qualification times among 16 different swimmers.

Although the Golden Rams walked away with the victory, the future still shines brightly on the Huskies as they prepare for next week's matchup against the Fighting Scots of Edinboro.