Women's Swimming | 1/19/2024 4:07:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Amid the snow storm The Huskies take down the IUP Crimson Hawks 111-92 (Women) & 113-90 (Men).

Despite the Winter Weather Advisory, The Huskies hopped on the bus this morning and traveled down to Keystone Aquatics, this year's site of the PSAC Championship, to face off against the Crimson Hawks of IUP.

The meet got off to a hot start where the team of Gabi Walsh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), Taleah Ruben (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville), Grace McBlain (Aldan, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), and Rylee Wenzel (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) competed in the 200 Medley Relay. As McBlain swam into the wall, Wenzel had to make up some ground, and that she did. Wenzel split a 22.81 to give the women the victory out-touching IUP's top relay by only six-one-hundredths of a second. The men followed it up with a very similar performance. The team of Tony Goulstone, Tanner Glatfelter, Jack Drake, and Andrew Holmes pulled away with a narrow victory against IUP's top men's relay beating them by only .37 seconds. They ended with a time of 1:33.48.

The next event was the women's and men's 200 Yard Freestyle. Madison Osanitsch (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) would give us the third tight race in a row where she popped off a 1:55.12, making it her fastest 200 Free of the season. Sarah Pickel (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) would follow behind her with a 1:57.88, which would also be her best 200 Free of the season. Following that we would see Ethan Coffman take second place with a time of 1:43.46. Luke Willard would come in for 5^th overall, and Constantin Buga would come in 6^th overall with a new personal best time at 1:48.75.

The next event was the 200 Yard Individual Medley. We would see McBlain reenter the water alongside Julia Riegel (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South), Taleah Ruben (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville), and Catie Strayer (York, Pa./Central York). McBlain and Riegel would take second and third and were only .11 seconds apart. McBlain finished with a 2:12.62 and Riegel finished with a season-best 2:12.73. On the men's side we would see our first 1-2-3. The combination of Nick Zaffiro, Goulstone, and Glatfelter would take the top three spots in the event. Zaffiro finished with a 1:54.91, Goulstone finished with a 1:57.04, and Glatfelter finished with a 2:00.67.

We then got into some sprint action, starting with the 50 Freestyle. Wenzel and Morgan Holmes (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) would swim in to take first and second place. Wenzel finished with a time of 23.61 and Holmes finished with a season best 24.27. For the men, we got another nail-biter. Ian Hamilton would dive in and finish only .11 seconds behind the top finisher. He swam to a time of 21.53. Brian Harrell would swim in for fourth place with a time of 21.93, and Blake Nesbitt and Cole Verga would tie for fifth place with a time of 22.16.

Continuing with the sprinting trend, we had the 50 Yard Butterfly next. McKenna Mizikar (Latrobe, Pa./Mount Pleasant Area) would take the top spot with a time of 26.80. Following close behind was Gabi Walsh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) who took third with a time of 27.22. Sydney Lloyd (Nescopeck, Pa./Berwick) came in right behind Gabi with a time of 27.44, and Emma Seibel (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) would come in with a time of 28.71. On the men's side Nick Fiddler would earn victory with a time of 23.44. Tyler Tinsley, Connor Hunt, and Henry Schueren would come in for third, fourth, and fifth.

Up next came a longer sprint, but a sprint nonetheless, the 100 Yard Freestyle. We would see Morgan, Sydney Lloyd (Nescopeck, Pa./Berwick), and Emma Seibel (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) back in action. Morgan took the victory with a time of 53.07. Sydney swam herself to sixth place with a time of 57.40, and Emma swam in for seventh with a time of 59.10. Jack Drake and Drew Holmes would get down and dirty taking first and second in the event with the times of 45.43 and 46.66.

With a little change of pace, we went into the 500 Yard Freestyle. Osanitsch would earn the victory with a 5:13.33. Pickel, Ella Dittmar (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), and Jada Stambaugh (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) would each take sixth, seventh, and eighth in the event. In the men's heat we would see Matthew Boehme, Ethan Coffman, Michael Huegel, and Luke Willard take third place through sixth place in the event.

Returning to our regularly scheduled sprint meet, we had the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay next. We would only have one relay for the women, but they walked away with the victory. The team of Wenzel, Holmes, Walsh, and Lloyd swam in with a time of 1:38.37. For the men, the team of Drake, Harrell, Holmes, and Hamilton would secure the win with a time of 1:24.82.

We then got into the 50 Yard Backstroke. For the women, Gabi Walsh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) touched the wall third with a time of 27.68. Grace McBlain (Aldan, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) and Jada Stambaugh (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) would finish right behind Walsh with times of 28.44 and 28.82. Both of those times are season bests for McBlain and Stambaugh. For the men, Goulstone and Verga would take second and third in the event with times of 24.84 and 24.95. According to SwimCloud, this is Verga's first time, officially, breaking 25.00 in the event.

We would get our final 50's of the day with the 50 Yard Breaststroke. Taleah Ruben (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) would swim in for a second-place finish with a time of 30.72. Julia Riegel (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South) would come in just behind her with a time of 31.43. Jewel Little (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg Area) would pick up sixth with a time of 32.96, and Sydney Platt (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) would swim in eighth with a time of 34.74. For the men, Tanner Glatfelter and Sean Witmer would take second and third. Constantin Buga and Henry Schueren would be close behind picking up fifth and seventh in the event.

The final events of the day came from the 400 Freestyle Relay. The team of M. Holmes, Osanitsch, Lloyd, and Wenzel would earn the victory with a time of 3:34.70. It was neck and neck heading into the final leg. Rylee out-split the swimmer from IUP where she went 51.10 to take the lead and win it for the women. On the men's side Drake, Coffman, A. Holmes, and Hamilton would take the victory while going a season best for the Huskies. They improve the seed time for the 400 Freestyle Relay by only .27 seconds heading into the PSAC Championship.

There were a lot of great swims today, and even more to come tomorrow. The Huskies dive back into the pool tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM with the John A. Pidgeon Memorial Invitational, and they will dive back in for PSAC Last Chance Invitational at 2:00 PM.

Great swims today and good luck tomorrow!