There was great swimming going on in North Carolina on Friday night. The Queens University of Charlotte men’s and women’s teams headed north on Interstate 77 to dual Davidson College in the Wildcats’ Cannon Pool. Each team came away with a very narrow win: Davidson took the women’s contest 163.5-130.5 while Queens won the men’s, 140.5-138.5. Full results available here.
Both meets were close enough that the excitement continued through the last relay. Davidson fielded the only divers in the meet (three women, one man) so all those points went to the Wildcats. Summer Abiad won the women’s 1-meter, Karen Monuszko took the women’s 3-meter, and Max Feinstein won two uncontested events on the men’s side.
Women’s Meet
In the women’s swimming, the Wildcats and the Royals each notched seven wins. Davidson sophomore Elise Lankiewicz and Queens junior Caroline Arakelian accounted for three apiece. Lankiewicz won the 1000 free (10:30.69), 200 fly (2:06.89), and 500 free (5:07.31) by wide margins. Queens sophomore Nikki Johnston was runner-up in the 1000 (10:35.55) and 500 (5:12.92). Lauren Frizzell of the Royals and Davidson senior Anna Blair Bullock went nearly stroke-for-stroke for 950 yards and ended up only .03 apart at the finish, with Frizzell taking third place 10:42.96-10:42.99.
Arakelian’s wins came in the 100 breast (1:05.78), 200 back (2:01.60), and 200 IM (2:06.28). Sophomore Katy Williams of Davidson was second in the 100 breast (1:06.79) and then went on to win the 200 breast (2:24.08).
In possibly the most exciting race of the day, Queens freshman McKenzie Stevens won the 200 free by .02 over Angie Healy of Davidson.
Hannah Peiffer of Queens had several good swims: she won the 100 back (59.24), was second in the 200 fly (2:09.50), and managed to hold off a hard-charging Meredith Nakano of Davidson to win the 100 fly, 57.53 to 57.64. Nakano, meanwhile, overcame a .19 deficit at the halfway mark of the 100 free to win 53.28 to 53.63 over Queens’ Alexandra Marshall. Davidson’s Kassie Shannon finished third in that race, almost overcoming Marshall herself, with a final time of 53.79. Shannon won the 50 free over Marshall, though, 24.65 to 24.75.
The women split relay wins: Queens began the meet with a 3:55.45 victory in the 400 medley relay behind Peiffer (58.67), Arakelian (1:05.58), Marshall (57.35) and Shane Knight (53.85). The Wildcats took the final 200 free relay in 1:38.70 with Erica Clancy (25.33), Shannon (24.19), Lauren Malachowski (24.30), and Healy (24.26).
Women’s Final Score
Davidson College 163.5 – 130.5 Queens University of Charlotte
Men’s Meet
The men’s meet told a different story. Queens won eight of the individual swimming events and both relays, leaving Davidson with just four outright swimming wins. However, Davidson’s depth –and the 18 diving points– allowed them to stay in the game until the last relay.
Queens senior Alex Menke won both the 1000 free (9:33.72) and 500 free (4:45.22); in both cases he was followed by a pair of Wildcats: junior Max Schimanski (9:54.96) and freshman Cole Riggan (9:55.76) in the 1000 and freshman Clay Resweber (4:47.61) and senior Benjamin Stewart-Bates (4:49.17) in the 500.
Sophomore Matt Josa of Queens scored a pair of victories with a 1:53.42 in the 200 fly and 45.44 in the 100 free. Teammate Felipe Oliveira (2:00.13) hung on for second place in the fly, with Spencer Davies of Davidson outsplitting him by 1.2 over the last 50 but coming up just short (2:00.18).
The Royals’ freshman Nick Arakelian won the 200 free (1:43.01) and 200 IM (1:55.97). In the 200 free, Davidsion’s Resweber won a hard-fought battle for second over teammate Luke Burton, 1:44.52 to 1:44.69. Davidson’s Grant Smith (1:56.84) picked up second in the IM.
Nic Eriksson was another multiple-event winner for the Royals: he claimed both breaststroke titles. He won the 100 in 57.78 over Davidson seniors Spencer Gill (58.77) and Drew Gill (59.72). He later went 2:03.89 in the 200, while Spencer Gill (2:09.54) just out-touched teammate Smith (2:09.90) for second.
Davidson’s Cameron Bard picked up two wins of his own with a 21.76 50 free and a 52.13 100 fly. His teammates Brandon Kegley and Burton notched wins as well. Kegley went 53.59 to lead the field in the 100 back; Queens juniors Ben Taylor (53.88) and Zach Phelps (53.89) were second and third. Burton finished first in the 200 back with 1:52.76, .90 ahead of Arakelian.
Both relays went to the Royals. In the 400 medley it was Josa (50.01), Eriksson (55.73), Oliveira (51.03), John Suther (46.95) combining for 3:23.72 over Burton, S Gill, Bard, and Kegley’s 3:27.64.
The 200 free relay, the winner of which would claim the meet title, pitted Josa, Eriksson, Taylor, and Suther (1:24.40) against Bard, Burton, Taylor Willenbring, and Kegley (1:24.80).
Men’s Final Score
Queens University of Charlotte 140.5 – 138.5 Davidson College
