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2021-22 Men's Swim Team Photo
Breelyn Craig

Men's Swimming & Diving Ben Greenberg, Sports Information Director

Men's Swimming Wins All 10 Events at Season Opening St. Louis Showcase

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – McKendree University men's swimming get off to a strong start to the 2021-22 season here Saturday at the St. Louis Showcase held at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center on the campus of Edwardsville High School.

The Bearcats swam in 10 events and took home first place in all 10 events, including finishing 1,2 and 3 in two of the 10 events. In addition, the team also took all the top nine spots in the 100-meter freestyle.

McKendree got the meet started off by having its 200-meter medley relay team of junior DeVante Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Queens College), sophomore Filipe Pinheiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Ao Cubo), freshman Jackson Lustig (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) and graduate student Xander Skinner (Namibia, Africa/Windhoek Afrikaans Private School) swim a pool record time of 1:45.83 en route to finishing in first place.

In addition, McKendree's B, C, D and E relay teams finished third, fourth, seventh and ninth. The 'B' relay team of freshman Patryk Rozenek (Radlin, Poland/Zsoms Raciborz), junior Caleb Law (Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service), freshman Alireza Yavari (Isfahan, Iran/Shayestegan) and freshman Arthur Souza (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Saber) swam a third place time of 1:50.25. The 'C' team posted a time of 1:52.52, while the D and E teams recorded times of 1:54.51 and 1:57.56 respectively.

The Bearcats has a strong swim in the 50-meter butterfly as they had the top six of the Top 10 swimmers in the event. Senior Gregg Lichinsky (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) took home first place with a time of 25.67, while Carey was thrid with a time of 26.02 and freshman Nick Khatkovvy (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) was fifth with a time of 26.97. Senior Taras Zherebetskyy (Alghero, Italy/ITS "Angelo Roth") was seventh with a time of 27.22, while Rozenek was eighth with a time of 27.23 and senior Noah Javens (West Lafayette, Ind./William Henry Harrison) was 10th with a time of 27.32.

Pinheiro and Lustig took home first and second place in the 200-meter IM as Pinheiro posted a time of 2:14.92 and Lustig swam a time of 2:15.13. Senior Gary Schrock (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) and senior Macoy Neinas (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Southern Door) were eighth and 11th overall with times of 2:24.39 and 2:28.90.

McKendree was also strong in the 50-meter freestyle as they placed in the top three spots overall and had six swimmers finish in the Top 10 of the event. Skinner placed first in the event with a time of 24.13, while Law was second with a time of 24.18 and Lichinsky was third with a time of 24.50. Other Bearcats that placed in the Top 12 were Souza, who was 5th with a time 25.07, senior Robert Ross (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek) was seventh with a time of 25.79, Khatkovyy was eighth with a time of 25.95 and sophomore Colton Grimes (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Centennial) was ninth with a time of 26.08.

The Bearcats went first, second and fourth in the 400-meter freestyle as senior Charlie Fraser-Allen (London, England/Highgate Wood Secondary School) placed first with a time of 4:17.86 and Lustig was second with a time of 4:18.21. Freshman Leo Gandaria-Hernandez (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield) was fourth with a time of 4:30.18.

McKendree also went first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh in the 500-meter freestyle relay as the 'A' team of Lichinsky, Skinner, Gandaria-Hernandez and Yavari posted a time of 4:45.50 to win the event. The 'C' team of Zherebetskyy, Schrock, Lustig and Fraser-Allen was third with a time of 4:55.43.The B, D and E teams posted times of 5:02.27, 5:07.76 and 5:11.16 respectively.
Carey and Rozenek went 1-2 in the 50-meter backstroke as they recorded times of 27.63 and 28.16 respectively.

Pinheiro, freshman Evan Hanson (Houlton, Wis./Hudson), Law and Schrock went first, second, fifth and ninth in the 50-meter breaststroke. Pinheiro's winning time was 29.95, which was 12 hundrenths of second off the pool record of 29.82. Hanson's second place time was 32.20, while Law went 32.35 and Schrock tallied a time of 32.74.

Perhaps the event of the day for the Bearcats was the 100-meter freestyle as McKendree had the top nine finishers overall in the event as Skinner led the way with a first place time of 53.40. Souza was second with a time of 54.05 and Yavari was third with a time of 54.48.

In the final event of the meet, the Bearcats went first, third, fifth and ninth in the mixed 200-meter freestyle relay. The 'A' team of Law, Skinner, freshman Karley Sonnenberg (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) and senior Abigail Rumpp (Knoxville, Tenn./L&N STEM Academy) recorded a time of 1:44.18. The 'B' team of Lichinsky, Souza, senior Haley Rey (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) and senior Hallie Dixon (Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville) posted a time of 1:46.3 to finish third.

McKendree is scheduled to return to the pool Friday, Oct. 8 as they travel to Carbondale, Ill., for a 2 p.m. dual match against Southern Illinois University.
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Players Mentioned

Charlie Fraser-Allen

Charlie Fraser-Allen

FS
6' 0"
Senior
Colton Grimes

Colton Grimes

FS/BS
6' 6"
Sophomore
Noah Javens

Noah Javens

FS/BF
6' 3"
Senior
Caleb Law

Caleb Law

FS/BR
6' 0"
Junior
Gregg Lichinsky

Gregg Lichinsky

FS/BF
6' 1"
Senior
Macoy Neinas

Macoy Neinas

IM/BS
6' 3"
Senior
Filipe Pinheiro

Filipe Pinheiro

IM/BR
6' 1"
Sophomore
Robert Ross

Robert Ross

FS/BS
6' 3"
Senior
Xander Skinner

Xander Skinner

FS
6' 4"
Graduate Student
Taras Zherebetskyy

Taras Zherebetskyy

FS/BF
6' 2"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Charlie Fraser-Allen

Charlie Fraser-Allen

6' 0"
Senior
FS
Colton Grimes

Colton Grimes

6' 6"
Sophomore
FS/BS
Noah Javens

Noah Javens

6' 3"
Senior
FS/BF
Caleb Law

Caleb Law

6' 0"
Junior
FS/BR
Gregg Lichinsky

Gregg Lichinsky

6' 1"
Senior
FS/BF
Macoy Neinas

Macoy Neinas

6' 3"
Senior
IM/BS
Filipe Pinheiro

Filipe Pinheiro

6' 1"
Sophomore
IM/BR
Robert Ross

Robert Ross

6' 3"
Senior
FS/BS
Xander Skinner

Xander Skinner

6' 4"
Graduate Student
FS
Taras Zherebetskyy

Taras Zherebetskyy

6' 2"
Senior
FS/BF