(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Nov. 3) – The McKendree University swimming and diving program concluded the two day UIndy Invite on Saturday afternoon. Both teams came out 2-1 on the weekend with losses to the host, University of Indianapolis.
Men's Scores
McKendree: 187 Lewis: 162
McKendree: 197 Bellarmine: 153
McKendree: 110.50 Indianapolis: 242
Women's Scores
McKendree: 207 Lewis: 132
McKendree: 188 Bellarmine: 152
McKendree: 94 Indianapolis: 251
Men's Swimming and Diving:
Sophomore
Throstur Bjarnason (Reykjanesbær, Iceland/Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja) registered multiple second place finishes. In the 500-yard freestyle, he finished just a second behind the leader at 4:34.90. Bjarnason finished the 1000-yard freestyle in 9.26.13, just three seconds behind first place. Sophomore
Alexander Skinner (Namibia, Africa/Windhoek Afrikaans Private School) tied for first place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.46. Skinner took second in the 50, 200-yard freestyle finishing the races in 20.86 and 1:39.25 respectively. He narrowly fell in the 50 freestyle as the leader finished just .04 seconds ahead. Junior
Matija Pucarevic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sixth Belgrade Grammar School) took top honors in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.13.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of junior
Luca Simonetti (Sassari, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Gulielmo Marconi Sassari), Pucarevic, Bjarnason, and Skinner took first place, completing the race in 3:04.26. The same relay team took second in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:24.44, just .31 seconds behind first place.
Freshmen divers
Ethan Larson (Anchorage, AK/Paideia High School) and
Xavier Flores (Fresno, CA/Clovis West High School) and senior Mat Anderson took fourth, sixth, and seventh place respectively in the one-meter diving. Larson scored a 246.60, Flores scored 178.27, and Anderson registered a 108.52. In the three-meter diving, Larson finished in third and Flores took fifth. Larson scored 306.07 and Flores scored 190.57.
Women's Swimming and Diving
Sophomore
Victoria Sananikone (Cedar Park, TX/Cedar Park High School) finished in first with a time of 2:05.99 in the 200-yard butterfly. Sananikone took second place in the 200-yard IM and 100-yard butterfly with times of 2:10.95 and 57.78. Sophomore
Meredith Geyer (Germantown, TN/Germantown High School) touched the wall in 52.65 and 1:55.13 to take second place in the 100, 200-yard freestyle races. Sophomore
Christina Marshall (Winston Salem, NC/Reagan High School) finished in second place with a time of 1:01.84 in the 100-yard IM. Freshman
Hallie Dixon (Jeffersonville, IN/Jeffersonville High School) took second place in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:38.57, just .80 behind the leader.
The relay team of junior
Milica Sostarec (Subotica, Serbia/Medical High School), Geyer, Marshall, and Sananikone finish in second place with a time of 3:59.11 in the 400-yard medley relay. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of freshman
Abby Rumpp (Knoxville, TN/L&N STEM Academy), sophomore
Iris Hilmarsdottir (Reykjanesbær, Iceland/Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja), junior
Magdalena Knapp (Bolzano, Italy/Gymnasium Walther von der Vogelweide Bozen), and Geyer took second place with a time of 1:39.68. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Geyer, Rumpp, Knapp, and Sananikone finished the race in 3:36.68, good for second place.
Sophomore
Caitlyn Canadi (South Lyon, MI/South Lyon High School) took second place in both one and three-meter diving events. In the one-meter, she scored 239.47 and scored 205.35 in the three-meter.
"We started off a bit sluggish on Friday after the bus trip to Indy. The highlight was Victoria's win in the 200-yard butterfly. Xander and Throstur both had great battles in 50,1000-yard freestyles but came up just short. Today, we were much sharper with an exciting tie in 100-yard freestyle with Xander. Matija came back with a convincing win in the 100-yard butterfly," said McKendree head coach
Jimmy Tierney. "We ended the evening with an exciting come from behind win in 400-yard freestyle relay. We were sore and tired but had terrific team spirit this last day. We were tough this morning despite being short-handed with several of our top swimmers not competing."
The swimming and diving program will return to the pool in the Missouri Invitational at the University of Missouri on November 15-17.
