Photo courtesy of goxavier.com | The Xavier swim team closed out its 2017-18 season this weekend at the Big East Swimming and Diving Championships. Sophomore Emily Conners set a personal record in the 100 free and placed third in the meet.
The Xavier swim team competed in the Big East Swimming and Diving Championships in Geneva, Ohio this past weekend. This was the last meet of the 2017-18 season.
The event, which was held at the SPIRE Institute, consisted of fellow Big East schools and decided the top teams in the conference.
Throughout the weekend, the Musketeers earned a total of 21 medals. These medals included 11 top-three finishes for the women and 10 top-three finishes for the men.
On the women’s side, the team placed fourth in the standings for the weekend. Along with its 11 top-three finishes, it also racked up four second-place finishes in relays.
The women’s team also saw a few members put up their best performances of the season.
Freshman Emma Kauffeld had a season best time of 17:04.02 in the 1,650 free, which earned her a seventh place finish in the event.
Senior Paxtyn Drew swam a 2:00.48 in the 200 back. This performance was good enough to see her finish third.
Sophomore Emily Conners also swam well, setting a new program record with a time of 49.86 in the 100 free and placing third overall.
Xavier women as a team finished the weekend by setting a new school record in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:21.77.
Conners, Drew, sophomore Abby Garner and junior Caroline Gaertner propelled the relay team to a second-place finish.
The men also finished fourth in the final standings. The men’s performances were highlighted by top-three finishes in four of the five relays.
Freshman Nick Mahoney had one of the best swims of the weekend with a second-place finish in the 1,650 free. His time was 15:41.08 in the event.
Junior Matthew Dyer also put up a strong performance with a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:00.32).
To wrap up the weekend, the Xavier men finished second in the 400 free relay.
Powered by juniors David Bunnell and Sam Johanns, along with freshmen Jared Ritz and Alex Sironen, the Musketeers put up a time of 3:00.47.
Although it may not be the result it wanted, the Xavier swim team had a solid weekend at the Big East Championships as it concluded the 2017-18 season.
Various individuals stepped up and showed poise against some of the toughest competition in the conference, let alone the country.
Because a lot of these successful performances came from underclassmen, the future of Xavier swimmig seems very bright.
By: Colin Cooper ~Staff Writer~