JANUARY 27, 2018
KING'S SWIMMERS SPLIT WITH MISERICORDIA, MONARCH, MEN POST FIRST-EVER WIN OVER COUGARS
DALLAS -- The King's College men's and women's swimming teams split a dual meet at local rival Misericordia University on Saturday at the Anderson Center in Dallas.
King's men made history when they defeated Misericordia 130-127 for the first time ever. The Lady Monarchs, meanwhile, came up short by a 157-104 count.
The men's meet was a back-and-forth affair which found Misericordia leading 123-117 heading into the final event - the 400-freestyle relay - and the Monarchs needing to win and have their second entry place second or third.
King's team of Chris Michael, Dan Weekes, James Martin, and Bryce Groshardt did their job by winning with a time of 3:23.01. Misericordia's team of Eric Latoski, Michael Zuilkoski, Dan Zieno, and Nick Lucca finished second with a 3:29.97. King's second entry of Randill DeAsis, Richard Kell, Tyler Higgins, and Chris Soutter then delivered in the clutch with a third-place time of 3:33.19 to enable the Monarchs to pull out the team victory.
The win allowed King's to improve to 8-2 on the year, setting a new program record for dual meet victories in one season.
King's Higgins won the 1650-freestyle with a time of 17:46.50 while teammate Soutter was second at 17:55.39. Higgins was also victorious in the 500-freestyle with a 5:07.58 and placed third in the 200-butterfly at 2:14.92. Rhyce Hammaker captured the 100-breaststroke with a 1:01.80 and was second in the 200-breaststroke at 2:20.69.
Martin touched first in the 200-butterfly at 2:08.53. Groshardt was a winner in the 200-backstroke with a 2:06.22 and was second in both the 200 individual medley at 2:05.15 and in the 100-backstroke with a 55.48. Soutter was also second in the 500-freestyle with a 5:07.60.
Weekes finished second in the 50-freestyle with a 22.32 and was third in the 100-freestyle at 49.56. Chris Dionne was second in the 200-freestyle with a 1:57.43 and finished third in the 100-butterfly at 56.74. Michael also added three key points for his third-place in the 200-breaststroke when he touched at 2:25.7, and three more by placing third in the 100-breaststroke with 1:03.85. John Kwasizur did the same in the 200-backstroke with a third-place time of 2:18.06.
For the King's women (6-4), Kirsten Siwy captured the 200-freestyle with a time of 2:05.41 and was second in the 200-breaststroke at 2:32.38 and in the 200-individual medley with a 2:19.12. Kaelyn Gardner finished second in the 200-butterfly at 2:23.63 and in the 100-butterfly with a 1:04.00.
Abbi Strennan was second in the 100-breaststroke at 1:18.07 and in the 500-freestyle with a time of 5:38.69, while Shannon Dolan was second in the 1650-freestyle with a 19:04.39 and in the 500-freestyle at 5:38.69.
Melina Good touched second in the 50-freestyle at 26.75 and was third in the 100-freestyle with a time of 1:00.22, while Noelle Pedersen finished second in the 200-backstroke at 2:19.05. Amanda Schwerdtman was third in the 1650-freestyle at 19:16.91 and in the 500-freestyle at 5:40.53.
King's team of Mikayla Miller, Strennan, Alyssa Gesek, and Good won the 400-freestyle with a time of 3:57.24.
King's will close out its dual meet season Saturday with a 1:00 PM matchup against cross-town rival Wilkes University at the Wyoming Valley CYC.
