In the first meet in the new Levine Center for Wellness and Recreation, the Royals of Queens University of Charlotte took on the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University in a inter-divisional meet. The Royals swam away with both meets with a women’s score of 119-86 and a men’s score of 139.5-65.5.
Men’s Meet
Queens got off to an electric start with the men taking two of the top three places in the opening event, the 200 medley relay. The first place group was made up of Harry Traystman, Agni Jayprakash, Evante Gibson, and Ben Taylor. They would then follow that with another impressive finish in the 1000 freestyle as Alex Menke jumped out to a lead and never looked back in order to take first place. Matt Josa and Hayden Kosater took first and third, respectfully, in the 200 freestyle, with Josa posting a NCAA B-cut qualifying time of 1:40.18.
The men swept the top three spots in the 50 freestyle with Nic Eriksson, Austin Sumrall, and John Suther dominating the event. Felipe Oliveira and Jayprakash kept the trend going with first and third place finishes in the 200 IM. In the 200 butterfly, Christian Yeatts entered an impressive first place performance, preceding Sumrall and Kosater’s second and third place finishes in the 100 freestyle.
Josa set a new school record, posting a time of 1:46.85 in the 200 backstroke, resulting in another first place, and another NCAA B-cut. Traystman took second in the event. Menke and Yeatts would return to the pool for the 500 freestyle snagging first and second. Eriksson, Jayprakash, and Devyn Hughes followed their performance tapping the wall in first, second and third in the 200 breaststroke. Queens closed the meet with another victory in the 400 freestyle relay. The team was made up of Josa, Eriksson, Taylor, and Kosater. Troy Cisneros, Jay Stancliff, Evante Gibson, and Oliveira took third in the event.
For the Bulldogs, Solid early season swims from sophomores Luke Denman in a 9:50.56 and Andy Watts with a 9:55.48 earned them second and third place finishes in the 1000 free, respectively. Sophomore Nathan Lile led GWU in the men’s 200 free, racing to a time of 1:41.92 to finish second in the event. Matt Anderson, tied for third place in the 50 free, while Jordan Denmark took second in the 200 IM. Lile picked up the first win of the day for GWU with a victory in the 100 Free in a time of 46.82.
Women’s Meet
For the Royals, the women started strong with a first place finish in the 200 medley relay on the backs of Hannah Peiffer, Emma Durante, Alexandra Marshall, and Lauren Mock. The swimmers turned in a NCAA B-cut qualifying time of 1:46.89 in the event. The Royals’ dominating start continued into the 1000 freestyle where Meridith Boudreaux took first place with yet another NCAA B-cut qualifying time of 10:29.82. Lauren Frizzell finished in third. In the 200 free style race, Lillian Gordy posted a third B-cut qualifying time with a first place finish in 1:53.37. Marshall and Mock followed taking first and second place in the 50 free. Marshall’s time of 24.04 was good enough for Queens’ fourth B-cut qualifying.
The 200 IM was another event where the women took control as Caroline Arakelian and Peiffer both posted B-cut qualifying times with their first and second place performances. Peiffer continued her B-cut qualifying roll with a time of 2:05.52 in the 200 butterfly to finish in first. The 100 free was next with Gordy and Shane Knight capturing first and second place. Gordy notched another B-cut qualifier in the event. Arakelian would return to the pool for the next event, continuing to maintain her spot atop the leader board with a first place finish in the 200 backstroke.
Boudreaux and Frizzell kept Queens rolling with first and third finishes in the 500 freestyle. Durante and Monica Milici would take second and third place in the 200 breaststroke just before the Royals closed the meet with a third place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. Kristin Diemer, Fallon Kelley, Ciara McTarsney, and Maddy Wallmon made up the team.
For the Bulldog’s, in the women’s 1,000 free, sophomore Madi Dinsmore led GWU with a second place showing behind a time of 10:47.41. Gardner-Webb occupied the second and third place finishers in the 200 free, Sophomore Giorgie Graves raced to a time of 1:53.61 for second while Senior Faith Kempf with a 1:56.55 took third place in the event.
In the women’s 200 fly, Graves raced to a time of 2:08.89 for a second place finish, and Kempf finished strong to take third place with a time of 2:11.17. In the women’s 200 back, Gardner-Webb showed off its depth by taking second, third, and fourth place respectively with April Niccolai in a time of 2:08.69, Kaylee McCallan with a 2:12.78, and Taylor Schwartz with a 2:14.55.
Charity Bynum gave the Bulldogs their first win on the day taking the 200 breast in a 2:21.15. The Bulldogs then finished out the Meet with a 1-2 punch in the 400 freestyle relay. Jenna Ballinger, Kempf, Graves, and Christina Clayton teamed up for a time of 3:37.32, and Adél Kiss, Dinsmore, Caroline Andrews, and Schwartz combined to finish in 3:41.86 and take second place in the event.
The Royals return to the pool on Friday, October 25 in the Levine Center. They will be hosting the Royals Invitational starting at 4:00pm.
The Bulldogs return to the pool for the Wingate Quad meet, held November 1-2 in Charlotte, N.C.
