Grand Canyon vs Concordia Irvine
- Saturday, January 15, 2022
- Phoenix, Ariz.
- Results
Courtesy: Grand Canyon Athletics
The Grand Canyon swimming teams competed in a dual meet against Concordia Irvine at Fr. Edward A. Reese Aquatic Center where the men and women earned two victories in its first meet of the 2022 season against the Eagles.
“I thought we swam well,” head coach Steve Schaffer said. “Especially given that half of our team was unable to compete, and a number who did compete only recently returned from isolation. A lot of people stepped up and raced surprisingly well under the circumstances. We got one pool record and won all but one event on the women’s side and all of the events on the men’s side.”
The Lopes began the meet with a pair of wins in the 400-yard medley relay. Junior Briana Rittenbach, freshmen Fruzsi Macsok and Aleksandra Wegrzynowska and senior Claire Banic posted a time of three minutes and 59.59 seconds. The men’s relay team made up of senior Samuel McKenzie, freshman Wyatt Dickman, sophomore Jack Armstrong and senior Florent Janin swam a 3:25.45 for the win. The boys were off to the individual races shortly after.
The men claimed all 28 victories in the 169-79 win over CUI.
GCU went one, two and three and four in the 50-yard freestyle with great performances by Armstrong (19.95), Omar Elsayd (20.29), Dawson Sloan (20.51) and Janin (20.99).
Lopes junior Griffin McKean and Armstrong led the way after they each claimed three individual victories.
McKean took home the 200 freestyle (1:42.18), 200 butterfly (1:53.03) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:05.76). He was also a part of the Lopes 400 medley B relay team that placed second (3:32.48) behind the men’s A team. Armstrong won the 50-yard freestyle (19.95), 100 freestyle (43.75) and the 100-yard butterfly (49.18).
Other multiple event winners included junior Mikhail Lyubavskiy in the 1,000 freestyle (9:32.18), 200-yard backstroke (1:5.21) and the 500 freestyle (4:4.84).
The women came out on top with a 173-79 win.
GCU sophomore Raphaela Nakashima won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.93 and placed second in the 1,000 freestyle (11:21.43) and the 100 freestyle (56.45).
Wegrzynowska also had herself a day after earning three individual victories for the Lopes. The Wroclaw, Poland native won the 200 freestyle (1:52.99), 500 freestyle (5:11.78) and the 200 butterfly (2:06.37).
Freshman Macsok made her debut for the Lopes. She earned her first victory at GCU in the 200 breaststroke posting a time of 2:27.98. The Hungarian native also placed second in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.88) and the 400-yard individual medley (4:42.66).
“The take away is that despite a bit of a setback from COVID-19, we are in a pretty good place and still have time to be our best at the WAC Championships,” Schaffer stated.
Up next, the Lopes will travel west to Riverside, California for a conference dual meet against California Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 22.
Courtesy: Concordia Irvine Athletics
PHOENIX, Ariz. – In this four-way dual meet, the Eagles faced off against Grand Canyon University (GCU) and fellow Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC) foes Arizona Christian and Ottawa University. The two victories came against Arizona Christian and Ottawa with the Eagles also going pound for pound with a Division 1 squad in GCU.
Competing for the first time in nearly a month, the Eagles combined for a number of head-turning performances over the course of the day. Sophomore Jade Hughes earned a victory over GCU in the women’s 1000 freestyle when she pulled away from her competitors at 300 yards.
In the women’s individual 200 freestyle, the CUI trio of Faith Silzel, Breckynn Willis, and Amelia Brady went 1-2-3 against Arizona Christian and Ottawa University.
On the men’s side, the quartet of Lanis Webb, Jack Harris, Jayden Hernandez, and Alberto Cortes posted their fastest unrested time of the season in the 400 medley relay.
Freshman Kyle Stocek and senior Andrew Dimino each swam their fastest time of the season in the 200 freestyle.
Fellow senior Kyle Benjamin came in second place in the grueling 400 IM race and in the 500 free. Remarkably, those two races were just 20 minutes apart, making Benjamin’s performances even more impressive considering the tight turnaround.
The men’s 200 relay closed the meet on a strong note as they finished second and fourth overall. On the day, CUI won 14 total races against their fellow PCSC members Arizona Christian and Ottawa University.
“We were down nearly a dozen teammates with COVID protocols and were very pleased with how this group plugged into some different events and responsibilities and got after racing,” explained CUI head coach Bert Bergen. “It’s been a month since we competed and they showed some fire. We’ve got another chance next week when we’re back at full strength and we’ll use that meet to prepare us for a really good PCSC Conference Championships in February. Happy to be the underdogs and doing the chasing at this time of the year. We’re hungry!”
The Eagles next swim and dive meet will be at home this coming Saturday Jan. 22 at 12 p.m. The meet is scheduled to be held at nearby Portola High School (Note: *Not at Woollett Aquatics Center*). Spectators are welcome and admission is free. This will mark the final meet before PCSC championships in February.
