Air Force Women Defeat Grand Canyon, Lopes Men Edge Out Falcons In Nail-Biter

by SwimSwam 0

November 07th, 2022 College, News, Previews & Recaps

Air Force vs Grand Canyon

  • Saturday, November 5, 2022
  • Phoenix, Ariz.
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Results
  • Team Scores
    • Women: Air Force 194, GCU 159
    • Men: GCU 179, Air Force 174

Courtesy: Air Force Athletics

PHOENIX, Ariz.– After a solid performance on Friday, Air Force closed the show on Saturday, defeating Grand Canyon 194-159.

“What a great day for our team,” said head coach Colleen Murphy. “We started with a win in the 400 Medley and a 1-2-3 sweep of the 1000 Free. We never let up. We did the little things right and won the close races.”

The Falcons did begin the afternoon with conviction, as the team of Kai-Min TsueiKimmy WoolfendenCorbyn Cormack, and Abby Turner posted a time of 3:47.31 in the 400Y Medley Relay to win the event.

Zoe Bresnahan maintained Air Force’s momentum in the following event, winning the 1000Y Free with a time of 10:18.55. Katie Andrist (10:27.50) and Lauren Arnold (10:37.03) placed second and third, respectively.

It was quite the afternoon for the medley relay team, as the foursome’s day didn’t end with triumph just in the lone event.Cormack also claimed a win in the 200Y Individual Medley, clocking in at 2:05.83. Turner placed first in the 50Y Free as well, finishing the race with a time of 23.89. Woolfenden was narrowly victorious in the 100Y Breaststroke, winning the event with a time of 1:04.57.

Tsuei picked up four team points with a second-place finish in the 100Y Backstroke, managing a time of 57.50.

Gabrielle Peltier (246.68) and Grace Treanor (243.83) took care of business on the boards, placing first and second in the one-meter dive.

“It was a total team effort,” said Murphy. “Our depth was apparent and the team stepped up in every race. I’m so proud of our team and their tenacity this weekend.”

Next, Air Force will have a chance to rest and recover, as the Falcons won’t compete until Thursday, November 17 at the Phil Hansel Invitational on the campus of the University of Houston.

Courtesy: GCU Athletics

The Grand Canyon men’s swimming team finished its weekend home matchup against Air Force in an exhilarating manner.

The GCU men’s dual came down to Saturday’s final race, where the Lopes 200-yard freestyle relay prevailed to take a 179-174 meet victory against the Falcons. The GCU women lost 194-159 to Air Force at Fr Edward A Reese Aquatic Center in Phoenix.

Lopes freshman Jonathan Rom continued his impressive swimming from Friday by adding to a 200 breaststroke win with wins in the 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and the 400 medley relay.

For the women’s team, sophomore Aleksandra Wegrzynowska continued to dominate the weekend. In the 200 butterfly and the 200 freestyle, Wegrzynoska won with both second-place finishers trailing her by nearly three seconds. In the 100 backstroke, GCU senior Briana Rittenbach won with a time of 56.27 seconds.

With the men’s 200 yard freestyle relay closing out the day, the men’s team was trailing by four points entering the event. The winner of the relay race receives 11 points for the team score.

The Lopes were neck and neck with the Falcons at each split in the relay, but senior anchor Omar Elsayd pulled ahead and won the race to secure the team win. Elsayd was joined by freshmen Vitaly KostinEli Cohen and Alex Volkov for a time of 1:23.25.

The Lopes will have a few weeks of training until their next meet, which takes plays in Oxford, Ohio, for the Miami Invitational on Dec. 1-3.

Day 1 recap

GCU was in a close battle after the first day of a WAC home meet against Air Force. The GCU men finished Friday trailing 85-82 while the Lopes women finished with a 87-80 deficit to the Falcons.

GCU sophomore Aleksandra Wegrzynowska swam a great race in the 400-yard individual medley, finishing with a time of 4 minutes, 25.0 seconds at Fr Edward A. Reese Aquatic Center. The next closest finisher came in nearly 4.5 seconds later. Freshman teammate Paula Martinez Moreno swam the 100 butterfly in a time of 56.02 seconds to give the Lopes another first-place finish.

GCU freshman Jonathan Rom won the 200 breaststroke with a quick time of 2:02.75, which was nearly four seconds faster than the second-place finisher. To end the day, the Lopes’ men’s 400 freestyle relay team came up with an important win. The team included freshmen Vitaly KostinEli Cohen and Alex Volkov with senior Omar Elsayd, who finished with a time of 3:04.36 to earn a crucial 11 points for GCU.

The Lopes hope to feed off that momentum as the duals pick back up Saturday at Fr Edward A. Reese Aquatic Center with an 10 a.m. start time.

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