Men's Swimming and Diving | January 16, 2019
VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Explorers' second semester began with aplomb in the pool--the swim teams claimed four of the first six events--but only the men could carry that momentum into the win column with a 178-122 victory over Villanova. The women, who fell 192-97, had a promising start courtesy of a
Sara Rizzetto victory in the 200 Freestyle, but gave way to the strength of a Wildcats women's team who've only lost once this season in single-competition.
MEET NOTES
- The men's swim team had three multi-event winners: Zachary Wolbert (three wins) claimed gold in the 100 and 200 Butterfly, as well as the 200 IM; Daniel Johnson (two wins) touched first in the 500 and 1000 Freestyle; Marcus Forsgren (two wins) emerged victorious in the 100 Breaststroke and 100 Freestyle. Also among the winners were Aleksandar Nikolic (200 Freestyle), Ian Venter (200 Backstroke), and Christoff Ras (200 Breaststroke).
- Behind the winning swimmer was often another La Salle cap--the men had a penchant for going 1-2, and sometimes even 1-2-3. The Explorers had the top two times in the 100 Freestyle (Forsgren and Norman Gregory), the 200 Freestyle (Nikolic and Kyle McElwee), the 200 Breaststroke (Ras and Isaiah Gregory), the 100 Butterfly (Wolbert and N. Gregory), and 200 IM (Wolbert and Ras). They went for "three's company" in the 100 Breaststroke (Forsgren, Ras, and I. Gregory), in addition to the 500 Freestyle (Johnson, McElwee, and Nikolic).
- The relay teams essentially book-ended the dominance by winning in Event 2, the 200 Medley with Venter, Forsgren, N. Gregory, and Johnson, and Event 32, the 400 Freestyle with Forsgren, Johnson, Nikolic, and Venter.
- In diving, freshman Phoebe Shaya came close to victory on two different occasions, 2.92 points shy of first in the 1-meter and 2.03 points short in the 3-meter. In men's news on the boards, Blake Griffith splashed into second in the 3-meter with a score of 295.35.
UP NEXT
- La Salle will defend Kirk Pool on Saturday, 11 a.m., as they welcome A-10 rivals Fordham. A few days later they'll host Loyola (MD.) for a Monday meet beginning at 12 p.m.
