It is no surprise that the swimming and diving teams have improved lately. The freshmen have gained valuable competitive experience while the veterans are simply doing what they do best. They proved their abilities at SUNY Fredonia this past weekend.
Men’s Swimming and Diving
The Yellowjackets were successful across the board in Saturday’s four team meet at Fredonia. Despite very good competition, the men managed to place in many events.
In addition to Fredonia, the men competed against Case Western Reserve University. Ithaca College was also at the meet, but the team did not compete with them. Freshman Bruce Maki took the largest number of individual first place finishes, tallying three by the end of the meet. Maki swam into first place in both the 100-yard and 500-yard freestyle, as well as the 400-yard individual medley.
Another very successful athlete at Fredonia was diver and senior Ted Elton. Improving his winning record, Elton claimed first place in the one-meter and the three-meter boards.
A second successful UR diver was freshman David Mitsche. He took third in both of the diving events, further strengthening the men’s diving team.
Junior Craig Matt and freshman Ryan White were UR’s other individual winners. Matt destroyed the competition in the 200-yard freestyle, and White was equally successful in the 200-yard backstroke. Along with their first place finish, Matt and White scored points in several other events. Matt was a close second in the 200-yard butterfly, followed by junior Zach Freed in third. White was able to place third in the 50-yard freestyle. Freed swam strong and finished third in the 200-yard freestyle.
The Yellowjackets were able to boast one more individual scorer from Saturday’s meet. Freshman Michael Hoffman was second in the 100-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke. The strong performances across all aspects of the meet were capped off by powerful relays. The 400-yard freestyle relay placed second out of ten teams.
Ithaca comes to UR this weekend for what should be a great competition.
Women’s Swimming and Diving
The women had as much success as the men while competing against Case and Fredonia on Saturday. The competition was tough, but the women had ample strength and came away with many individual and team accomplishments.
Danielle Scherry, a sophomore, was the first of two double winners for the Yellowjackets. Scherry showed her strength in distance swims, dominating both the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle.
Following Scherry in the 1,000-yard freestyle was junior Michele Gruen, who swam into second place. Gruen also placed in the 200-yard freestyle, taking third.
Junior Kari Joyce was UR’s second double winner on Saturday. She was first in front of Gruen in the 200-yard freestyle. She also obliterated the competition in the 200-yard backstroke.
Seniors Patricia McHale and Crystal Hoffman and junior Shannon Kahabka all had respectable performances in Fredonia. McHale was second on both the one-meter and the three-meter board. Hoffman took fourth on the one-meter board, and Kahabka was fourth on the three-meter board.
Several more women scored points for the team. Senior Kathryn Monti took third place in two events, the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle.
Junior Karen Gromer made a powerful debut after spending last semester abroad. She was second in the 400-yard individual medley. Two more third place finishes for UR showed just how many of the women competed admirably on Saturday. Senior Keika Campbell was third in the 200-yard butterfly and sophomore Kelly Fischer was third in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Two of the relays summed up the day for the Yellowjackets. The 4×400-yard relay sailed into first place and the 400-yard medley relay was fourth.
The women will host Ithaca and Fredonia at home on Saturday.
Myers can be reached at smyers@campustimes.org
