2022 Magnus Cup Invitational
- November 17-19, 2022
- Busbey Natatorium, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
- Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Day 1 Results
- Full Results on Meet Mobile
11 women’s teams and 10 men’s teams began competition on Thursday in Cleveland at the 2022 Magnus Cup Invitational.
The Akron women and the Xavier men bolted out to day 1 leads in the meet.
Women’s Day 1 Standings:
- Akron – 375.5
- Duquesne – 275
- Toledo – 234
- Xavier – 224
- St. Bonaventure – 133
- Niagara – 109
- Indiana University (PA) – 86
- Canisius – 67.5
- Case Western – 63
- Cleveland State – 44
- Gannon – 20
Men’s Day 1 Standings
- Xavier – 315
- Cleveland State – 266
- Gannon – 211.5
- St. Bonaventure – 184
- Case Western – 180.5
- Canisius – 169.5
- Niagara – 150.5
- Indiana University (PA) – 94
- Fairmont State – 38
- WVU Tech – 20
The Akron women, consistent NCAA qualifiers, bolted out at the start with a pair of relay wins. First, in the 200 free relay, they swam 1:31.96, just missing their own Meet Record from 2016. That relay was led by a 22.38 split from Abby Daniel and a 22.58 split from Madelyn Gatrall.
They bookended the session with a 3:45.62 win in the 400 medley relay. Gatrall also split 53.68 on a backstroke leg leading off Akron’s top 400 medley relay, but that relay was disqualified. The team’s #2 relay won instead.
Gatrall swam four events in the session, and won the first three before the DQ. In addition to the 200 free relay, she also led the field in the 200 IM in 2:01.15 (beating out Toledo’s Lauren Kilgore by .17 seconds) and the 50 free in 23.19 (beating out St. Bonaventure’s Halle Myers by .15).
That 200 IM swim was a new best time for her by almost a full second. The time would have qualified her for the “A” final at last year’s MAC Championships.
The Zips were one event shy of a clean sweep on the day. That’s because Duquesne’s Orla Egan won the 500 free in 4:53.44. Egan, a sophomore, finished 6th in the 500 free at last year’s A-10 Championship meet in a time three-tenths slower than she swam on Thursday. Her best time in the race, a 4:51.7, is still from when she was in high school.
The men’s meet was a little more balanced at the top of the event standings. The hosts from Cleveland State opened with a 1:21.37 win in the 200 free relay, including a 20.32 leadoff from Nathen Eberhardt and a 20.15 2nd leg from Kenny Thomas, but Xavier wasn’t far behind in 1:21.64. Xavier’s Aiden Leamer had the fastest split of that field in 20.14.
Even with a lot of 20.1 splits in that relay (including two from Niagara swimmers), it was Cleveland State’s Paddy Johnston who won the individual event. He swam 20.21 off the flat-start, which was three-tenths faster than his relay anchor from earlier in the session.
Xavier picked up a pair of individual wins throughout the session. Michael Benington won the 200 IM in 1:49.93, which just-barely slid under his time from the Big East Championships last year (where he was 6th). William Retsch, a freshman at Division II Gannon University, swam 1:50.08. That is a new personal best and broke his own school record of 1:50.98 from prelims.
That was one of two Gannon school records on Thursday thanks to a huge recruiting class. Fellow freshman Malachi Boyle, from Knoxville Tennessee, swam a 4:30.17 in the 500 free to shave .03 seconds off that school record.
The 500 free was won by Xavier’s Andrew Martin in 4:25.75. That broke a 2019-vintage record of 4:26.66 set by Dominik Niedzialek.
With both teams entering the final relay at two wins, Xavier’s men broke the tie by swimming 3:19.01 in the 400 medley. IUP was 2nd, and Saint Bonaventure was 3rd, while Cleveland State finished in 7th in a very competitive field.
Xavier’s squad included Jon Bernard (51.55), Ethan Saunders (54.76), Aiden Leamer (48.64), and Andrew Martin (44.06).
