ASHLAND, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University swimming and diving program was back in the pool at Ashland University, Saturday afternoon. The Cardinal women defeated Ashland 167-40 and Hillsdale 107-97 in a tri-meet. The Cardinal men took down Ashland 163-45.
SVSU men dominated in the pool as they had first-place finishes in 11 of the 13 events. The SVSU women had a tougher match-up competing against two other programs and placed first in six of the 13 events.
The Cardinal men had multiple first-place finishes. Almos Szedlak won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9 minutes, 40.74 seconds, and the 400-yard individual medley race finishing in 4:07.84. Gavin Crews won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle with final times of 22.09 and 48.38. Szedlak and Crews also took first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with Joao Pedro Nogueira and Connor Spanos as the four finished in 1:26.05. Logan Fox was the top finisher in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke finishing in 1:45.25 and 58.00 respectively. Fox was joined by Logan Stombaugh, Josh Rottier, and Rodrigo Vargas as they completed the 400-yard medley relay in 3:32.25 and took first. Benjamin Wainman was the fastest in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:49.73. On the diving side, Rory Kauffman was first in the 1-meter and 3-meter dive. He scored 451.75 and 428.65.
SVSU women competed against the Eagles and the Chargers of Hillsdale. They had eight different first-place competitors. Erin McDowell finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.94. Lucy Engle-Wilkerson won the 500-yard freestyle with a mark of 5:19.41. Bustos competed with Emma Scott, Ella Yantz, and Veronica Markwood in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The four won with a final time of 1:40.70. Markwood took a close second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.33, which was 0.23 seconds behind first. Markwood was also 0.54 seconds behind first in the 100-yard freestyle finishing second with a mark of 56.07. The closest second-place finish for the Cardinals was Flora Szklenar in the 100-yard butterfly race. Szklenar finished with a time of 58.48, just .04 seconds behind first. Women's diving were victorious in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive. Adelaide Spencer had a score of 381.95 in the 1-meter dive and Kaylee Smith took first with a score of 414.45 in the 3-meter dive.
UP NEXT
SVSU swimming and diving host their first meet of the calendar year Saturday, January 28. They welcome Davenport University for senior night at the Gerstacker Regional Aquatic Center at Saginaw Valley State University.