By: Donald Menke ~Staff Writer~
Xavier swimming picked up a pair of combined wins this weekend in a meet at West Virginia University. Xavier defeated Big East opponents Seton Hall and Butler while losing to host West Virginia.
On the men’s side, Rodrigo Suriano, Luke Johanns, Enrique Hernandez and Tony Miller finished second in the 200-meter free style relay with a time of 1:24.45. Luke Johanns also took the top spot in the 50-yard free with a time of 20.79.
Xavier finished third, fourth and fifth in the 100-yard backstroke. Nathan Runyon lead the team with a time of 53.51. Suriano finished fourth with a time of 53.54, and Sam Johanns finished fifth with a time of 53.58.
The men’s team then took second in the 800-free relay with a time of 7:05.37 from the team of Alex Wolfred, Hernandez, Chase Baldwin and Nick Foster. The men placed second and third in the 100-freestyle, with Suriano posting a time of 46.98 and Luke Johanns finishing close after with a time of 47.43.
In the mile freestyle, the men had Nick Strader finish second with a time of 16:46.44 and Foster place fourth with a time of 16:59.77. Erik Biernat finished third with a time of 1:57.92 in the 200 individual medley and then was part of the relay team, which included Suriano, Luke Johanns and Michael Pettinchi, that finished the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:30.32. The men beat Seton Hall 177-154 but lost to West Virginia 251-108.
On the women’s side, Molly Ford, Caroline Gaertner, Kristen Liebert and Haley Dresner participated in the 200 freestyle relay and finished third with a time of 1:41.16.
Katie Kerr finished third in the 500 free with a time of 5:08.40. Kerr also finished second in the 1650 free with a time of 17:57.86. Both times Kerr posted were among the top 20 times in Xavier history. Emily Wagner placed third in the 1650 with a time of 18:17.63.
In the 50 freestyle, Claire Brolsma took second with a time of 25.17. In the 800 freestyle relay, a team of Kerr, Jenna Wilkes, Taylor Jach and Mackenna Rife placed second with a time of 7:53.76. In the 200 fly, Xavier took second, third and fifth. Maggie Kauffeld finished second with a time of 2:11.32. Annie Cummins placed third, posting a time of 2:11.89, and Wilkes finished fifth, finishing in 2:14.26.
In the final event, the 400 medley relay, a team of Gaertner, Dresner, Cummins and Paxtyn Drew, finished third with a time of 4:01.93. The women defeated Seton Hall 191-158 and Butler 260-71, but lost to West Virginia 266-93. Xavier swimming returns to action Nov. 7 at Denison for a dual meet.