Photo courtesy of goxavier.com | The women’s swim team won its meet at Wright State last weekend. Sophomore Emily Saugstad won the 100 meter free stroke at the meet.
It was a successful week for Xavier swimming as both teams finished second at the Butler Invite. The women’s team also won a meet at Wright State University, while the men’s team finished second.
“Butler was a really long meet and our team did a great job of staying focused for each race,” head coach Brent MacDonald said. “The team camaraderie was finally where we wanted it with amazing team support throughout.”
The women’s team won 10 different events, including the 200 meter medley relay, 100 meter back stroke, 200 meter fly, 50 meter free stroke, 100 meter free stroke, 200 meter back stroke, 500 meter free stroke, 100 meter fly, 200 meter individual medley and 400 meter free relay.
Emily Conners had a standout performance, winning the 200 meter relay, 50 and 100 meter free and 400 meter free relay.
The men’s team won two events, the 200 meter back stroke and the 400 meter free relay.
The Wright State meet saw more success for the Musketeers, with the women’s team winning 11 events compared to two for the men’s team.
“Wright State was a little more of a challenge for us, as we notoriously do not swim fast in their pool,” MacDonald said, “but we did a great job of putting times aside and just racing throughout garnering 13 first-place finishes.”
As far as standouts, MacDonald praised Emily Saugstad, who won the 100 meter free stroke, and Alex Wolfred for their performances.
“Emily Saugstad had been fighting a really bad back injury first semester, and it has been great to see her swim fast this semester,” MacDonald said. “Alex Wolfred was quite a racer this weekend, winning the 200 and 500 at the end in some very close races.”
MacDonald expressed confidence in his teams moving into the last leg of the regular season.
“We have a very deep team, and I think that will really serve us well at the Big East Championships,” MacDonald said.
By: Donnie Menke ~Staff Writer~