Men’s Swimming returned home from Emmitsburg, Maryland on Saturday with two wins, sweeping Mount St. Mary’s and Howard, while the women’s team was also victorious against Howard.
“The men were strong right from the start and never gave the opposition a chance on the scoreboard,” said Head Coach Matt Nunnally. “The women’s meet was close throughout coming down to the last relay. Overall, everyone showed a lot of fight and I am excited about what this type of performance can do for our confidence moving forward.”
The men won their match over Mount St. Mary’s by a score of 152.5-108.5 and dominated against Howard 173-95. The wins improved their record to 4-0 on the season.
Freshmen Callan Smith and Patrick McAllister lead the team with strong individual performances. Smith earned three first-place finishes in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and 200-meter backstroke. He now has eight first-place finishes this season.
McAllister claimed his third and fourth victories of the season in the 800-meter freestyle and the 100-meter backstroke.
Sophomore Dylan Barkhuizen helped the team to victory as well, achieving a win in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:11.84, his fifth of the season.
The men also came out on top in the 400-meter medley relay and the 400-meter freestyle relay. The group of Smith, Barkhuizen, junior Austin D’Angelo, and freshman Valance Washington earned the 400-meter medley win.
For the 400-meter freestyle win, Washington and Barkhuizen combined their efforts with McAllister and freshman Kevin Del Giorno in order to get the victory.
Women’s Swimming triumphed over Howard 147-122, but fell short to Mount St. Mary’s 146-131, seeing their season record even out at 2-2.
Freshman Camryn McHugh made a splash with three first-place races, the third week in a row she has accomplished this. McHugh won this week’s 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke, and 100-meter fly races.
For the women’s 400-meter medley relay, McHugh, freshman Sarah Brennan, and juniors Bradie Keelen and Jaclyn Greening made a united effort to earn the win with a time of 4:32.46.
This weekend’s competition was slightly different from what the Hawks are used to. The meet took place in a metered swimming pool, which is longer than the 25-yard pool that Monmouth’s teams usually practice and compete in.
“Swimming on the road in a meter pool presented a tough challenge for us today,” said Nunnally. “Despite the testing conditions the team showed tremendous focus throughout the meet. It was encouraging to see them face the challenge presented today putting up solid results.”
The next competition for Monmouth will be at home, where they will host Iona this upcoming Friday, Nov. 9 at Steadman Natatorium at 4:00 p.m. before travelling to St. Francis Brooklyn the next morning for a 12:00 p.m. start.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
