By Nicole Hauck, Staff Writer
Susquehanna men’s and women’s swim team dominated Scranton 159–122 and 165– 110 respectively for two Senior Day victories on Saturday, Jan. 26 in Selinsgrove.
The River Hawks recognized seven female and five male seniors. The seniors on the women’s team were Megan Duck, Devon Niness, Maggie Palaski, Caroline Salerno, Isabella San Miguel, Krista White and Katie Willis. The men that were recognized were Sean Murray, Ryan Nathan, James Orzolek, Ryan Prater and Ryan Rizzuto.
“Our senior meet was one to remember. At the start of the day it didn’t quite feel like it was our time to be ending our season of dual meets, but as soon as I stepped onto the pool deck, reality started to sink in,” Niness said.
The lady River Hawks gave the Royals their first conference loss of the season. For the women, Willis played a strong role in the teams win, placing first in four events. Junior Caitlin Kelly, who was named the Landmark Women’s Swimmer of the Week, finished with three first-place wins.
Willis started the win streak for the River Hawks with the 200-medley relay, coming in with a time of 1:53.23. The relay team was Willis, junior Cate Welch, and sophomore Olivia Fravel.
Willis then earned a win in the 50-freestyle coming with a time of 24.77, followed by Niness earning third place with 26.42. Willis also earned another first-place finish in 400-freestyle relay with Fravel, Kelly and sophomore Tori Weems. The foursome finished with a time of 3:43.73, which beat the Royals by 10 seconds.
Kelly also played a crucial role in the River Hawks win. Kelly had a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 and 500-freestyle with times of 11:08.90 and 5.24.20 respectively. She also earned a second-place finish in the 200-freestyle swim with a time of 2:00.43.
Palaski earned top honors in the 100 butterfly, earning a time of 1:02.89.
For the men’s swim team, freshman Eric Towse set a Garret Center Natatorium record, winning the 100-backstroke in 52.71, beating Scranton’s opponent by four seconds. This was Towse best pool time record since Oct. 27, 2018 against Bloomsburg University. Towse also placed first in the 200-individual medley, with a time of 2:00.53.
Orzolek shined when winning the 50 as well as the 100-freestyle with 22.08 and 48.93.
Orzolek was also teamed with Grove, Walker and sophomore Owen Kelly in the 400 freestyle relay. The foursome finished with a time of 3:17.98.
Nathan had two wins in the 1000 and 500-freestyle concluding his senior day with a time of 10:16.86 and 4:58.43.
“I could not have asked for a better way to send not only myself, but my fellow seniors off,” Nathan said. “The energy on deck was unbelievable. We had people up and cheering for every race we swam, and it made the atmosphere on deck very invigorating.”
With the win, the women currently have an overall record of 4-6 but are 4-0 in the Landmark Conference. While the Men also have an overall record of 4-6, but are 3-1 in conference meets.
“Winning the meet was just the cherry on top. The real treat was celebrating four years of perseverance, hard work, and dedication with my team, family, and friends,” Niness said.
Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will return to action on Feb. 15-17 for the Landmark Conference Championships in Germantown, Md.
