Men's Swimming | 11/10/2023 10:26:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa.- The Huskies attempt at the 33-point comeback falls short as #24 Clarion wins the meet on both the men's and women's side.

The swimmers packed their bags early to travel down Interstate-80 to face off in a conference matchup against the Clarion Golden Eagles. As they arrived at the meet, Clarion had three divers both for the men's and women's side. They all competed in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. This would put the Huskies down 34 on the women's side and 33 on the men's side.

This 30-point deficit is a tough feat to go against, but the swimmers fought tooth and nail to narrow that gap. Clarion would go on to open the meet by winning both the Men's and Women's 400 Yard Medley Relay, but Matthew Boehme and Luke Willard (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) would answer back in the 1000 Yard Freestyle. Boehme and Willard combined for first and second place in the event.

Shortly after, Ethan Coffman (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) and Andrew Holmes (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) would do the same thing in the 200 Yard Freestyle. Holmes now puts himself on the board in the 200 Yard Freestyle in the PSAC rankings where he now sits #12 in the conference.
Gabi Walsh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) would earn the women's first first-place finish of the meet in the 100 Yard Backstroke. She just edged out Clarion's Maria Wold by only four tenths of a second. Julia Riegel (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South) would give us the next nail-biter in the 100 Breaststroke where she ultimately got out-touched for the 3^rd place, but she was nearly a second away from winning the entire thing.

Immediately after, Blake Nesbitt (Wind Gap, Pa./Nazareth) would come up clutch for the Huskies hitting his first sub-minute 100 Breaststroke (from a flat start) of the season. He now moves up to #12 in the conference in the event.

Freshman Grace McBlain (Aldan, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) would be the next girl to earn a first-place finish doing so in the 200 Yard Butterfly. McBlain's 2:11.22 is now the second fastest 200 Butterfly in the entire conference, pending all other meet results.

We then got a sneak peek at what might be to come at the PSAC Championships where Rylee Wenzel (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) faced off against Clarion's Hannah Greenway. Greenway, who has the fastest time in the PSAC currently, came out with the win, but Wenzel dropped her in-season best down to a 23.80. In doing so, she earned her second NCAA B-Cut of the season.

After taking a little break, Wenzel would dive right back in for the 100 Yard Freestyle where she would walk away, again, victorious.

We would then get, likely, the race of the night in the Men's 100 Yard Freestyle. The top four finishes were all within four-tenths of a second. Jack Drake (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg Area) and Drew Holmes would walk out of it getting first and second in the event.

At last, the final event of the evening. Two men and two women on each relay fighting for the coveted trophy crowning them the winners of the Mixed 400 Freestyle Relay. In dominating fashion, Jack Drake (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg Area), Rylee Wenzel (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson), and the brother/sister duo of Drew and Morgan Holmes (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) got the win bringing the trophy back to Bloomsburg.

The additional 34 and 33 points from diving would be too much for the Huskies to overcome. Clarion would win the meet 193-85 for the women and 151-125 for the men. This was Bloomsburg's last competition before their midseason meet at Bucknell University. With all the great swims the Huskies have had thus far, get ready to see what they do in just three weeks.