The Lawrence University swim teams took on Beloit College on Saturday, Oct. 27 to open their season with outstanding victories from both the men and women’s teams. The men defeated their Beloit opponents 110-70, and the women came out 130-63 over Beloit’s women’s team.
For the women’s team, freshman Hayley Cardinal, junior Hannah Gabriel and senior Julia Heller each had multiple victories to lead their team to victory. Cardinal placed first in the women’s 200 meter IM and 100 meter breaststroke, with times of 2:30.24 and 1:12.07 respectively, showing an impressive start as a freshman competitor.
Gabriel took first in the women’s 200 meter freestyle with a time of 2:03.68 and in the women’s 500 meter freestyle at 5:28.83. Heller dominated in the women’s 50 meter freestyle at 27.36 and the women’s 100 meter freestyle at 59.37. All three of the women also participated in winning medley’s for Lawrence.
Lawrence juniors Evan Flack and Cameron Gmehlin aided in the men’s domination by pulling out multiple victories over their Beloit competitors. Flack led the shorter freestyle events, as he took first in the men’s 50 freestyle with a time of 23.17, along with winning the men’s 100 freestyle at 51.22. Gmehlin also had a strong meet, as he placed first in the men’s 200 meter IM coming in at 2:10.55, as well as the men’s 100 meter breaststroke at 1:06.76. Both Flack and Gmehlin competed in winning medleys for additional points for the Lawrence victory.
However, these were not the only competitors to bring in points for the Lawrence teams. Sophomore Taylor Winter placed first for the women’s 1,000-meter freestyle at 11:15.71 and senior Caleb Stellmach took first for the men’s 1,000-meter freestyle at 11:32.48. Junior Pat Vincent contributed to the men’s team with a first place time of 1:00.44 in the men’s 100 butterfly event. Freshman Emily Flack competed for the women’s team and took first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:04.70.
Lawrence’s men and women’s teams swept the relay events, adding to their smooth victory over Beloit College. For the women’s 200 meter medley relay, junior Chelsea Hameister, Flack, Cardinal and Heller took first with 1:58.77. The men’s 200 medley relay was led by Vincent, Gmehlin, senior Jake Johnson and freshman Grant Wilkie. For the 200 freestyle relay, the women’s event was won at 1:48.01 by Flack, Winter, Gabriel and Hameister, and the men’s event was taken at 1:37.82 by Vincent, Flack, Stellmach and freshman Danny Davis.
The Lawrence University swim teams will be traveling to the UW River Falls Triangular on Nov. 3, and will be returning to compete at home on Nov. 10 against UW-Whitewater.