Photo courtesy of Sports Information
By Dan DiLizia, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna University men’s swim team was led by sophomore Eric Towse to their second straight win of the regular season, beating Scranton 146-114 on the road on Saturday, Jan. 25.
Towse picked up four wins and three school records during the competition and the school gained a Landmark Conference victory, giving Scranton their second straight defeat of the season.
The River Hawks proved victorious in eight out of the 14 events, and also gained a pair of 1-2-3 sweeps in the 100 backstroke as well as the 200 individual medley to earn a 30-point victory.
Towse led both sweeps and, along with junior Brett Walker (who scored 40 points and four wins), combined to tally 78 of the team’s total 146 points.
Additionally, Towse led the winning 400 medley relay and was joined by senior Shane Sullivan, freshman Andre Fissella, and Walker for a pool record-breaking time of 3:33.18.
“Scranton is always a tough competitor for us, which always leads to awesome swims,” Sullivan said. “The energy and results that we had today will definitely put both the guys’ and girls’ teams in good spots for champs.”
As the meet continued, Towse also recorded his third pool record in the 200 backstroke, winning the event with a time of 1:55.12, with sophomore Ryan King coming in third.
Walker also swam a top-notch time in the 200 freestyle (1:50.48) and finished first in the 100 free (49.67).
Walker would also swim the second leg of the victorious freestyle relay team along with senior captain David Grove, freshman John Imburgia, and Fissella for a time of 1:29.37.
Sullivan and Fissella both had strong performances in the meet. Sullivan finished second in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, while Fissella placed second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 100 breaststroke.
Other key swimmers included Grove, freshman Jayden Corrigan and Evan Bova, and juniors Owen Kelly, Brandan Heese, and Anthony Principe.
The men’s team will attend the Landmark Conference Championships on Feb. 14-16 in Germantown, Md. at 10 a.m.
The Susquehanna women’s swim team unfortunately came up short at their Landmark Conference meet against Scranton (138-124) on Saturday, though senior Caitlin Kelly and freshman Haley Muth provided notable performances.
Each swimmer came up with two wins in their last meet of the regular season and the River Hawks were still able to notch five wins out of 14 events.
Kelly achieved top honors in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:23.19, with sophomore Larisa Calvo claiming second. She also touched the wall first in the 500 free (5:34.37) and was once again followed by Calvo.
Muth won the 50 freestyle in 25.55 and placed first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.29.
Sophomore Sabrina Krotzer kept up the pressure, placing first in the 200 butterfly, and second in the 100 butterfly. Junior Tori Weems also tallied first and second in the 100 and 200 freestyles, respectively.
Freshman Julia Adams, Muth, Krotzer and Weems also joined forces to place second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:11.12.
Junior Olivia Fravel, Weems, Adams and Muth then 1:43.47 for a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.
“Today’s meet had lots of good races and great energy,” senior Hannah Filton said. “It was a fight until the end. The guys came out on top and the girls fell a little short. Regardless of the outcome, we are hungry for champs in a few weeks.”
The women’s team will join the men in the Landmark Conference Championships in Germantown, Md.