By: Kyle Isaacs

Prior to heading home for Thanksgiving break, the Xavier men’s and women’s swimming teams headed north to Cleveland to compete in the Cleveland State Magnus Cup.

Both teams finished third place in the two-day event with a field of six teams. The men’s team tallied 1,052.5 points while the women’s side finished with 1,148 points. The meet was the final team event of the fall semester, with a few individual swimmers moving on to the USA Short Course Nationals this week in Knoxville, Tenn.

On the women’s side, junior Carolyn Stewart broke the meet record with a time of 26.02 seconds in the 50-yard backstroke.

Fellow junior Maddie Day added the second meet record for the Musketeers with a first place finish in the 50-yard breaststroke.

Sophomore Mackenna Rife touched the wall second in 17:20.60 in the 1650-yard free, a few seconds ahead of freshman Taylor Jach, who finished fifth for the women’s team. The Musketeers were not done securing top-three finishes, with sophomore Molly Kroeger picking up a third place finish in the 100-yard free with a time of 51.77.

The women entered the second day of competition trailing by 68 points and narrowed the gap but were unable to come closer than 38 points from second place.

The men’s team placed third as well, behind multiple top-five performances. Freshman Nick Strader secured a fourth place finish in the 1650-yard individual freestyle with a time of 15:57.72.

This was followed by a fourth-place performance in the 200-yard backstroke.

On the final day of the event, seniors Chad Thompson and John Kinney, sophomore Luke Johanns and freshman Rodrigo Suriano combined times to piece together a third place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:05.70.

The Musketeers will return to team dual competitions during Christmas break. On Jan. 10, they’ll head west to Indianapolis to compete against Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI).