Air Force vs Grand Canyon
- November 5-6, 2021
- USAF Academy, Colo.
- Results
Courtesy: Air Force Athletics
Men’s Recap
USAF ACADEMY – Air Force outscored Grand Canyon, 196-176, in a two-day dual meet at the Academy, claiming first-place finishes in 12 events on the meet.
Falcon standout Wen Zhang led the Falcons with four individual first-place finishes and two top finishes in relay action, taking the top-spot in every event he competed in.
Teammate Gabriel Bartolomei won first-place in four events, winning three individual top finishes while also helping the 400 medley relay team to a first-place finish.
Adam Grimm notched first-place finishes in the 400 IM and 200 IM while finishing inside the top-three of his for individual events. Teammate Andrew Limpert won the 200 butterfly and helped both the 400 free relay squad and 400 medley relay squad top first-place finishes.
The Falcons look to continue their dominance next week as the team heads to sunny California to compete at the Trojan Invitational, hosted by Southern California in a weekend-long meet (Nov. 12-14). Action kicks off at 11 a.m. PT on Friday, November 12.
Women’s Recap
USAF ACADEMY – The women’s swim and dive team outscored Grand Canyon, 216-155, in a two-day meet at the Academy, winning first-place finishes in 10 events.
Freshman standout Corbyn Cormack led the Falcons with three first-place finishes, winning the 200 IM (2:07.00), the 400 IM (4:34.59), and the 100 butterfly (56.75). Cormack leads the Falcons in total first-place finishes this season. She finished inside the top-three in all of her events.
Junior swimmer Sefilina Maile competed in six events and took two top finishes, winning the 50 freestyle (23.83) and the 200 freestyle (1:56.66). She finished inside the top-three in all of her events.
Kimmy Woolfenden, a junior out of Mission Viejo, California, claimed the top finish in the 200 breast stroke and a second-place finish in the 100 breast stroke.
Cormack, Maile and Woolfenden, along with Allana Clarke, posted a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay (3:52.45), while Cormack, Clarke, Maile and Anna Ashley claimed second in the 200 medley relay (1:44.22).
Lauren Arnold and Madelyn Letendre took top finishes in the 1000 freestyle and 500 freestyle, respectively.
Falcon divers Anna Kemper (1 mtr, 227.33) and Curi von Schlag (3 mtr, 249.08) claimed first-place finishes in their respective events.
“It was a great meet for our team,” head coach Colleen Murphy said. “Our depth really showed this weekend and we are proud of the tenacity and grit our women showed in every race.”
“We are looking forward to resting and suiting up for the Phil Hansel Invite at mid-season in less than two weeks.”
Next up, Air Force heads to sunny California to compete at the Trojan Invitational, hosted by Southern California in a weekend-long meet (Nov. 12-14). Action kicks off at 11 a.m. PT on Friday, November 12.
Courtesy: Grand Canyon Athletics
Men’s Recap
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Grand Canyon men’s swimming and diving team competed in a two-day dual meet at Air Force, where they fell 196-176 to the Falcons at Cadet Natatorium.
GCU sophomore diver Isaac Poole showed out, as he swept all three diving events against the Falcons while setting a new school record and WAC conference record. Individually, senior Alonso Carazo Barbero and junior Mikhail Lyubavskiy also had stellar performances for the Lopes.
Day 1
After Day 1 at Cadet Natatorium, the men trailed 102-84 to the Falcons.
Poole came to fly with the Falcons as he totaled 372.0 points for the Friday win in the 1-meter event, breaking the GCU school record that was set by Pietro Hufnagel Toscani (367.20 vs. CBU on Jan. 25, 2020). Poole also claimed first in the 3-meter event after totaling 339.75 points. Air Force’s Dominic Vallejo set the previous WAC record in the 1-meter on Oct. 19, 2013, with 358.65 points.
Lopes sophomore diver Reece Robles also had a great first day with a second-place finish in the 3-meter event with 282.38 points.
“The diving events were very strong on the men’s side with some great performances highlighted by Poole’s 1-meter event, where he won, breaking the GCU school record in that event,” GCU head diving coach Hunter Shafer stated. “Robles also had a good 3-meter event, where he finished his last dive great, vaulting him to second place.”
The Lopes men’s relay team made up of seniors Adrian Curbelo Tejera and Kainan De Jesus, junior Amir Haviv and sophomore Jack Armstrong finished second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of one minute and 31.55 seconds. All meet times were adjusted to the appropriate times due to the site’s altitude level.
Carazo Barbero gave the Lopes a great start in the individual events with a win in the 100 breaststroke (56.55) and a second-place finish in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:52.67.
Armstrong finished first in the 50 freestyle (20.44) with junior Omar Elsayd coming right behind him in second with a time of 20.78.
Lyubavskiy took second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:35.15. He also finished fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:44.62). Junior Griffin McKean also earned a couple of second-place finishes in the 200 butterfly (1:54.23) and the 200 freestyle (1:41.63).
The Lopes finished Day 1 of the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay from seniors Samuel McKenzie and Florent Janin, junior Dawson Sloan and Armstrong.
Day 2
The Lopes started Day 2 off with a second-place finish in a tight 400 medley relay with a time of 3:21.56 from seniors Dylan Nasser, Curbelo Tejera, Haviv and Armstrong. The splits were close, but Air Force’s Wen Zhang pulled ahead of Armstrong by 1.15 seconds in the last leg.
Poole won the platform event with 272.48 points for the complete sweep. Robles earned third place with a total of 252.90 points.
McKean won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:08.03.
Lyubavskiy had a dominant finish in the 1,000 freestyle in 9:39.83. He also earned another second-place finish against the Falcons in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:04.36.
Carazo Barbero finished third in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9:41.00 in a close race against Lyubavskiy and Air Force’s Adam Grimm.
Elsayd, Janin, Sloan and Armstrong ended the meet with a fantastic first-place finish, swimming the 200 freestyle relay in 1:21.67.
Up next, the Lopes will travel to Oxford, Ohio, for the Miami Invitational on Dec. 2-4.
Women’s Recap
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Grand Canyon women’s swimming and diving team competed in a two-day dual meet against Air Force at Cadet Natatorium, where the Lopes fell 216-155 to the Falcons. GCU won races and achieved goals despite the altitude change.
Day 1
After Day 1 at Cadet Natatorium, the Lopes women were down 111-75 against the Falcons.
GCU seniors Claire Banic and Emily Muteti, junior Briana Rittenbach and sophomore Raphaela Nakashima captured a Friday win in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of one minute, 44.16 seconds. Banic pushed the team to victory with a fiery finish, beating her opponent to the wall by six seconds. The team dropped .29 seconds off its season-best time. All meet times were adjusted to the appropriate times due to the site’s altitude level.
Lopes sophomore diver Lizzy Mcknight took second place with 245.63 points in the 3-meter springboard. Freshman teammate Shiori Bak had a great evening, as she finished second in the 1-meter event with 219.68 points and fourth in the 3-meter (231.30).
“The women had some good diving, but Bak stepped up and did some of her best diving of the season so far,” GCU diving head coach Hunter Shafer said. “She had great energy off the board and finished her 1-meter in a strong second place.”
Individually, the Lopes picked up two wins for the women. Nakashima won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.79 while senior Robyn Edwards finished the 100 backstroke in a season-best time (57.76).
GCU freshman Maria Brunlehner had a great performance in 200 individual medley, where she finished second with a time of 2:06.90, dropping 1.16 seconds off her season best. She also earned a top-three finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.22).
Banic also earned a second-place finish in the women’s 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 23.84 seconds.
Lopes freshman Aleksandra Wegrzynowska finished second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:55.20. She earned fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:10.01) and contributed to fourth in 400 freestyle relay.
Muteti, Carr, Banic and Brunlehner tasted sweet victory once again in the 400 freestyle relay with a season-best time of 3:29.87. Brunlehner pushed the team to victory in the last leg of the race, as she came from behind to hit the wall before the Falcons’ Abby Turner.
Day 2
On Saturday, the Lopes had outstanding finishes in its loss to the Falcons.
GCU started out strong once again after winning the 400 medley relay with Muteti, Edwards, Nakashima and Brunlehner. Brunlehner was a speed boat in the water as she guided the team to a cushioned win with a time of 3:50.15.
Bak had herself a day in the platform event, winning with 235.73 points for a NCAA zone qualifying score.
Edwards won the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:04.30. Brunlehner was also victorious in the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.81.
Two Lopes earned top-three finishes. Wegrzynowska swam the 400 IM in a time of 4:33.80 for a second-place finish. Nakashima ended her weekend with a third-place finish in the 200 breaststroke.
Brunlehner, Banic, Carr and Muteti closed out the afternoon with another relay win in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.76.
Up next, the Lopes will head to Pullman, Washington, on Friday, and to Moscow, Idaho, on Saturday for a pair of dual meets.
