H2Ounds Invitational Day Two

BALTIMORE, Maryland, December 1. THE Loyola men's swimming and diving team captured the H2Ounds Invitational, defeating Delaware, Drexel and more importantly, defeating MAAC foe Marist for the first time in program history. The Greyhound women took third, finishing just 10 points back of Marist for second place.

"I am so proud of how the teams fared this evening," said Head Coach Brian Loeffler. "The stands this weekend were filled with parent's and Alumni. It was great to see so many people come out for such a historic event for our programs."

The men's victory was a total team effort with two more relay Top-5 times on Saturday and four first-place finishes, as well as a school record. The Loyola record came in the 200 Back, where Jake Swiggett swam a 1:55.80.

In the relays, freshman Sam McQuaid, Matthew Fralinger, Ozzy Torres and junior E.J. Verrico took first with Loyola's fourth-fastest time (1:36.16) in the 200 Medley event. The 400 Free Relay team, consisting of Jacob Drannan, Jonathan Wertz, Verrico and Brad Reeser, also swam the program's fourth-fastest time in their event – taking second place in 3:10.29.

Individually, Fralinger won the 200 Breaststroke in 2:10.35, while freshman teammate Colin Chenet took first in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 59.03. McQuaid won the 100 Back (52.81), while sophomore Zachary Oster had an excellent day in posting Top 5 times.

Oster won the 400 IM, swimming the second-fastest time in Loyola history (4:12.92) in the event. Oster also saw the program's fifth-fastest time in the 1650 Free to help the Greyhounds defeat Marist by 13 points, Drexel by 36 points and Delaware by 66 points.

"Until tonight, the Marist men had only lost two MAAC dual meets in the 12 years they have been in the league – both to Rider," said Coach Loeffler after the meet. "Tonight's men's victory was the greatest dual meet victory in men's team history as our wins against Drexel and Delaware were also significant. Delaware is currently the No. 6 in the Mid-Major poll, and has already defeated Rider."

The Loyola women also put up a good team effort with two solid relay victories. The Greyhounds, paced by sophomore Melissa White, freshman Kim Krzaczek, freshman Caitlin Cassidy and sophomore Megan Royer, broke the old school record by 1.7 seconds and won the 200 Medley Relay in 1:49.78.

The 400 Free Relay also took first place for the women, swimming the second-fastest time in the school record books. That relay, which swam a 3:37.46, consisted of junior Tori Kamauff, White, Royer and Cassidy.

"To come up 10 points short to the defending MAAC Champions is quite a great accomplishment for our women's team," says Loeffler. "This is the closest we have come in the 12 years we have swam Marist in dual meets."

The `Hounds also had a huge day from freshman swimmer Phil Scholz, who followed up Friday's two American records in the S11 Blind Swimmer category, with an amazing six American records on Saturday. Sholz now holds eight American records in short course yards, including records in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 1,000 Free, 1,650 Free, 100 Fly and 200 Fly.

Special thanks to Loyola for contributing this report.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use