Photo courtesy of David Weigel | Becca Titterton (above) was a member of the 200 medley relay team that won first place at Indiana State last weekend. Another member of the relay team, Emily Conners, was named the Big East Swimmer of the Week.
The Xavier men and women’s team defeated the defending NAIA champs Olivet Nazarene at Indiana State on Oct. 14. The women’s team did fall to the host, Indiana State, who only fields a women’s team. The Musketeers finished first in 19 events during the meet.
The men’s team swept every event in the meet. The 200 medley relay team consisting of freshman Alex Sironen, junior Matthew Dyer, sophomore Brando Abboud and junior Sam Johanns opened up the meet strong with a victory with a time of 1:33.92. Dyer would go on to claim three individual wins including the 100 breast, 200 breast and the 200 IM. Other multiple event winners included: junior Enrique Hernandez who won the 100 and 200 free; freshman Noah Coomler who swept the freestyle sprints, claiming a personal best in the 50 with a time of 21.76; and senior Alex Wolfred, who claimed the distance events, winning the 500 free and the 1000 free.
“The team performed extremely well at ISU,” Dyer said, “though in most races we only had our teammates for competition, the intensity was still high and that translated into our races.”
The women’s team also opened up the meet with a victory, winning the 200 medley relay. The relay team was made up of senior Paxtyn Drew, junior Becca Titterton, junior Caroline Gaertner and sophomore Emily Conners. She also won both the 50 free with a time of 23.82 and the 100 free with a 51.98. Gaertner also won the 100 fly with a time of 55.2. Freshman Emma Kauffeld claimed the 500 free, winning with a time of 5:05.29.
“I think the team was able to perform very well,” Conners said on the win against ONU. “We used this meet as a training opportunity to get stronger and more mentally tough…Going forward, I think we are sitting in a great position for our bigger meets coming up.”
Connors was named the Big East Swimmer of the Week after capturing three wins over the weekend. She has amassed a total of six wins through the first two meets of the season.
The Musketeers look to continue its strong start at their only home meet on Oct. 19 against Cleveland State at O’Connor Sports Center.
By: Jack Dunn ~Staff Writer~