Ashland University's men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed at the Malone Invitational on Saturday (Nov. 17), with each finishing in fourth place in the team standings.
Three Eagle swimmers raced for top finishes in the competition. Sophomore Jessica Zaper won the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 30.96 seconds. Freshman Franci Aleksi kept his winning ways with a victory in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:43:00, and in the men's 50-yard butterfly, senior Keegan Goeke won with a finals time of 23:52.
Numerous Eagle swimmers earned top-three finishes, as well. The women's 200 medley relay comprised of freshman Michaela Godfrey, senior Sophie Brightman, senior Julia Grady, and Zaper secured a third-place finish (1:53:46) for the Eagles.
Sophomore Tara Stevens finished second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:59:01, and second in the 500-yard freestyle (5:18:52). Grady raced to a third-place showing in the 100-yard fly with a 1:06:61 finish. Zaper earned more points for the Eagles with a third-place finish (25:19) in the 50-yard free and 100-yard individual medley (1:02:77).
In the women's 100-yard backstroke, freshman Abigail Ellsworth finished third with a time of 1:00:53. Grady raced to a second-place finish for the Eagles with a time of 27:57 in the 50-yard fly. In the 200-yard fly, Ellsworth earned a second-place finish (2:17:45), and sophomore Anne Evans finished third (2:19:86). Rounding out the top-three swimming scoring for Ashland was the 200-yard freestyle relay team comprised of Zaper, Ellsworth, Grady and Brightman (1:42:71).
On the men's side, senior Ben Keilholz earned a second-place finish (21:84), and Goeke (21:91) finished just behind in third place, in the 50-yard freestyle, while Goeke was second in the 50 back in 24.61 seconds. Ashland completed a top-three sweep of the 500-yard free with a second-place finish by senior Lucas Oliveira (4:48:48), and a third-place finish by freshman Matt Filsinger (4:49:20).
In diving, junior Madeline Cronin finished second in the three-meter event with a score of 322.05, and the one-meter event with a score of 330.80.
The Eagles will compete next on Nov. 29 at the Kenyon College Invitational.
AU
SWIM/SVS