Swimmers prepare for Bluegrass postseason play

The men and women's
swim teams created waves
this past weekend, as they
wrapped up incredible
dual meet seasons at Navy
and Washington and Lee.
The men's team traveled to
Annapolis, MD on Friday,
Feb. 3 to finish their season
with their toughest competition
yet against the Navy
Midshipmen.
After beating their only
other D-I competition,
Towson, the men lost to
Navy by a narrow margin
of 135.5- 124.5. This close
score was reflected by the
even closer races, in which
only fractions of seconds
separated first from fourth
place.
"Going in, we knew it
was going to be some tough
competition," said head
coach George Kennedy.
"Navy has an incredible
D-I program, with respectable
top level competitors."
Despite going up against
such competition and missing
two of their top swimmers,
senior Tim Nam and
sophomore Anthony Lordi,
the men's team dove right
in and gave their all. Navy
opened the meet by clinching
the first five races.
However, the 200 medley
relay - made up of
freshman Dylan Davis,
sophomore Joe Acquaviva,
junior Carter Gisriel and
senior Eddy Zandee - finished
second, just five-hundredths
of a second behind
the Midshipmen.
After a five race winning
streak from Navy,
Hopkins began to churn
up the water in hopes of
making a comeback. They
won the next four events,
including the 200-meter
fly, won by junior Nick
Schmidt.
The Blue jays then
showed their strength in
freestyle, winning both
the 50 and 100-meter races.
Davis had an impressive
race in the 200 back,
posting a time of 2:06.97,
followed by freshman
Ryan Cunningham and
sophomore David Woodford
who placed second
and third, respectively.
After a loss to Navy in
the 200-yard breaststroke,
Hopkins rallied to win the
last four events of the day,
including the 400-meter
free, the 100 fly, the 200 I.M.
and the 400 free relay. The
400 free relay team made
up of junior Tyler Woods,
sophomore Ben Tillar, junior
Dylan Coggin and junior
Nick Schmidt touched
in with a time of 3:30:09.
With the dual meet season
behind them, the men
have begun to taper, drastically
decreasing their
time in the pool after a
long season of hard work
to prepare for the Bluegrass
Mountain Conference
Championships. This
Conference-wide meet will
take place on Feb. 15th, in
Charlotte, N.C.
Here they will face
some of the best competition
from the conference
and hope to touch in some
fast times to qualify for
the National Championships
in Indianapolis.
With nine swimmers already
qualifying for Nationals,
Coach Kennedy
expects anywhere from
4-10 swimmers to qualify,
earning their spot on the
long trip to Indianapolis.
On the women's side,
the Lady Jays traveled to
Washington and Lee on
Saturday, Jan. 28th and
captured their final dual
meet of the season.
"We knew we were a
better team on paper,"
Coach Kennedy said, "So
this gave us the opportunity
to mix up the events
and give more girls the opportunity
to race."
Even mixing up the
lineup, the women still
swam fast times, breaking
two pool records and
proving that talent runs
deep within the Lady
Jays. The 200-medley relay
team of freshman
Melinda Yau, sophomore
Cristina Cusumano, freshman
Kivilcim Gunay and
freshman Jill Liwacz; and
the 200-freestyle relay of
Liwacz, junior Eleanor
Gardner, sophomore Eva
Schulteis and Yau, posted
new records at the Generals'
home pool.
The women then
showed their strength in
the distance events. Freshman
Selena Guerrero-
Martin, freshman Beril
Polat and senior Khristine
Ghemigian swept the
1000-meter freestyle going
1-2-3. Senior Heidi Culver
won the 500 free with a
time of 5:21.43.
In addition, junior Kristen
Ferriero had a great
race in the 200-freestyle,
cruising in to the wall
with a time of 1:59.38 to
oust the competition by
half a second. Freshman
Hannah Benn won the 200
back with a time of 2:10.60,
and the Blue Jay's finished
the meet with second and
fourth place finishes in the
100 fly from Gunay and
freshman Allison Henry.
"I was really pleased
with the overall performance
at the meet," commented
Coach Kennedy.
"It was a great way to
close a great season, and
now we can look forward
to Conferences."
Like the men, the women
are now preparing for
their Conference Championships
in Charlotte, N.C.
and have begun tapering
in order to ensure fast
times. The women have
a lot at stake this year, as
they look to prove themselves
in defending their
Conference title from last
year.
After Conferences, the
women will make the long
trek out to chilly Indianapolis
for fierce competition
and fast times at the National
Championships.