Eagle Swimmers, Divers End First Meet Of 2023-24 With Strong Showings

Ashland University's swimming and diving teams picked up eight first-place finishes on the second and final day of Oberlin's Early Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 14).
 
In the final team standings, both the Eagle men (628 team points) and women (641 team points) finished in third place. Case Western Reserve's men (1,019) and women (1,018) won both sides, and Oberlin was second on both sides (men 846, women 682.5).
 
NOTABLES

• Sophomore Joey Lenczyk picked up where he left off as a freshman, winning both the men's 1-meter (240.40 points) and 3-meter diving (215.70). Also earning individual victories on Saturday were freshman Payton Meyer in the women's 100-yard butterfly (1:01.43), freshman Emma Stoll in the women's 200 freestyle (2:04.13), sophomore Cole Huebner in the men's 100 free (48.10 seconds), and freshman Juliana Pignato in the women's 200 fly (2:14.55).
• Winning relay teams were the men's 400 free quartet of sophomore Nick Girz, freshmen Colin Pham and Evan Kemp, and Huebner (3:13.71), and the men's 800 free relay of freshman Grant Brown, Kemp, Pham and Huebner (7:13.11).
• Second-place finishes were earned by Pignato in the women's 100 fly (1:01.48), Girz in the men's 100 breaststroke (59.66 seconds), Pham in the men's 100 backstroke (54.09 seconds), sophomore Mary Kate Prall in the women's 100 back (1:02.39), the women's 400 free relay of Pignato, freshman Blair Pichola, Prall and senior Sydney Porinchok (3:49.19); the women's 200 medley relay of Prall, freshman Rachel Stanchek, Pignato and Pichola (1:58.12), and the women's 800 relay of sophomore Paige Nicholson, junior Holly Kraemer, freshman Nina Nephew and Stoll (8:40.71).
• Taking third were sophomore Andrew Oates in the men's 100 breaststroke (1:00.21) and men's 100 individual medley (54.74 seconds), Kemp in the men's 100 back (54.64) and men's 200 back (2:00.04), Prall in the women's 200 back (2:15.62), sophomore Megan Tomasic in the women's 200 free (2:06.64), and the men's 200 medley relay of sophomore Ryan Mohler, Girz, senior Josh Hagan and Oates (1:40.49).
• Fourth-place showings were earned by Stoll in the women's 200 back (2:16.22), Pichola in the women's 200 free (2:06.83), Meyer in the women's 200 fly (2:16.87), Hagan in the men's 400 IM (4:27.84) and men's 200 fly (2:00.20), sophomore Jason Basile in the men's 1,650 free (17:17.89), and Girz in the men's 200 breaststroke (2:19.22).
• Finishing in fifth were Nicholson in the women's 200 back (2:20.01), women's 100 free (57.12 seconds) and women's 100 back (1:04.58); Pham in the men's 100 free (49.43 seconds), Mohler in the men's 400 IM (4:31.87), sophomore Ayden Mason in the men's 200 breaststroke (2:19.70), and Brown in the men's 200 back (2:04.01).

 
UP NEXT
Ashland's men and women will compete at Findlay on Friday (Oct. 20) at 5 p.m.