AU Women Win, Men Lose Dual At Mount Union

Competing for the first time in nearly a month and a half, Ashland University's women's and men's swimming and diving teams split at Mount Union on Friday (Jan. 17) night.
 
The Eagle women won 127-78, and the AU men lost by a slim 103-102 margin.
 
Two Ashland women each won a pair of individual events – sophomore Payton O'Toole in the women's 1,000-yard freestyle (11:15.28) and 100 free (56.10 seconds), and freshman Brooke Patel in the women's 200 individual medley (2:19.92) and 200 breaststroke (2:37.19).
 
O'Toole and Patel joined sophomores Blair Pichola and Juliana Pignato to win the women's 200 free relay (1:43.91), and the women's 200 medley relay of freshman Yasmim Tomita, senior Colleen Cox, sophomore Payton Meyer and freshman Raechel Serafimov won in 1:56.25.
 
Individual women's wins were earned by Cox in the 50 free (25.86 seconds), Pignato in the 200 butterfly (2:17.76), and Tomita in the 200 backstroke (2:15.22). Runner-up finishes came from Tomita in the women's 200 free (2:03.34), freshman Stephanie Holubetz in the women's 200 fly (2:26.09), Meyer in the women's 200 back (2:22.32), and Pignato in the women's 500 free (5:29.94).
 
On the men's side, junior Nick Girz won both the 50 free (22.19 seconds) and 100 free (47.98 seconds), junior Nick Olquin won the 200 fly (2:00.96), and junior Jack Elliott took the men's 200 breaststroke (2:15.19)
 
In relays, AU's men won the 200 medley, as sophomore Colin Pham, junior Andrew Oates, freshman Daniel Correa Hammer and Elliott finished in 1:39.21, and the 200 free quartet of Oates, Pham, senior Robin Falk and Girz took top honors in 1:27.61.
 
Second-place finishes came from sophomore Grant Brown in the men's 200 free (1:49.29), Elliott in the men's 200 IM (2:04.80), and Pham in the men's 200 back (2:00.56).
 
UP NEXT
Back to the Messerly Natatorium for a home dual vs. Bluffton on Jan. 24 at 6 p.m..