Swimmers test mettle against DI opponents

This past Monday, the Hopkins men’s and women’s swimming teams traveled to Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ to compete in the Frank Elm Invitational. Both teams finished well despite being the only Division III team in a field of primarily Division I universities. The men’s team finished fourth out of nine schools with 1,144 points. West Chester University took the invitational title with 2,003 points. Senior Carter Gisriel led a group of five Blue Jays in the finals of the 50 Free, placing second with a time of 21.14. In the B Final, senior Tyler Woods placed second in 21.78 and sophomore Ed Pagano finished fourth with a time of 21.90. Senior Dylan Coggin placed third in the 100 Free of the A Final at 46.21. Woods won the B Final with a time of 47.37. Coggin earned a fourth-place finish in the A Final of the 200 Free with a time of 1:42.65. The 500 Free saw freshman Bill Gravley finish second in the B Final with a time of 4:43.90. Sophomore Dylan Davis swam to a third-place finish in the A Final of the 100 back, finishing at 50.78 for an NCAA provisional time. Davis then won the 200 back with a provisional time of 1:49.62 while freshman Justin Tang followed closely behind in second place. Sophomore Gideon Hou placed fourth in the A Final of the 100 breast with a provisional and career-best time of 57.74. Gisriel added another second-place finish, this time in the 100 Fly as he finished in 50.11 for a provisional time. In the B Final, Woods finished in second in 51.95 while Pagano placed third in 52.61. Hopkins placed three in the A Final of the 200 IM with Tang finishing in second at 1:52.59, the 10th fastest in school history. Tang followed that with a win in the 400 IM, finishing with a provisional time at 3:59.46. The time set a pool record and is the sixth fastest time in school history. The Blue Jays had an impressive run in the relays placing second in all five events. The team of Gisriel, Coggin, Woods, and Lordi combined for a time of 1:23.85 in the 200 Free Relay. In the 400 Free Relay, Coggin, Woods, Gisriel and Lordi finished in a provisional time of 3:05.06. In the 200 Medley Relay, Acquaviva, Hou, Gisriel and Lordi combined for a provisional time of 1:32.68. The Blue Jays did the same in the 400 Medley Relay. The women’s team placed fifth out of eleven schools. Villanova won the invitational with 1,737.5 total points. The Lady Blue Jays placed five swimmers in the finals of the 50 Free. Sophomore Ana Bogdanovski finished fourth, followed by freshman Megan Auzenbergs in sixth place. Senior Eleanor Gardner finished in seventh in the B Final with a time of 25.23, followed closely by freshman Sean McGrath in 25.38. Bogdanovski took home second place in the 100 Free with an NCAA provisional time of 51.31 in the A Final. Her prelim time of 51.27 is the fourth fastest time in school history. In the 200 Free, Hopkins had six swimmers in the finals, including two in the A Final. Bogdanovski and Rinsma both swam provisional times finishing in fifth and seventh place, respectively. Marcus also swam a provisional time with his third place finish in the B Final, clocking in at 1:53.69. In the 100 Back, sophomores Hannah Benn and Melinda Yau placed third and fourth, respectively in the B Final. Junior Taylor Kitayama earned a third-place finish in the A Final of the 200 Back with a time of 2:01.58, a provisional time and the fourth fastest time in program history. McGrath placed second in the B Final with a provisional time of 2:04.32. Sophomore Maggie Storm led the Blue Jays in the 100 and 200 Breast finishing in fifth in the B Final of both. Kitayama earned a third-place finish in the A Final of the 100 Fly with a provisional time of 56.14. Sophomore Sammi Fox just missed out on the school record in the 200 IM finals as she finished in third place with a time of 2:06.91. Kitayama followed her in sixth place as she finished in 2:07.85, a career best and also a provisional time. Fox then broke the longest-standing school record as she swam a time of 4:30.33 in the 400 IM, also a provisional time, to finish in fourth place in the B Final. Hopkins also turned in a strong performance in the relays, earning a podium finish in four of the five relays. The Blue Jays posted provisional times in each of the five relays. The team of Bogdanovski, Kitayama, Auzenbergs and McGrath swam a time of 1:36.42 to finish second in the 200 Free Relay. In the 400 Free, the Blue Jays also took home second place. Hopkins wrapped up the freestyle relays with a third-place finish in the 800 Free Relay. The Blue Jays took home third place as Kitayama, Fox, Holden and Bogdanovski swam a time of 3:55.51 in the 400 Medley Relay. Hopkins returns to action the weekend of Nov 30 at Gettysburg's Final Fall Fast Festival.