The men and women's swimming and diving teams competed in the McKendree Tri-Meet on January 12th against hosting McKendree and Rockhurst. The women fell just shy of victory with a final of 162-132. On the men's side, the Lions dropped the competition 187-109.
In the women's 200-yard medley relay, Lindenwood's Stephanie Marks, Beata Maruszczyk, Kayla Bulseco and Joselle Mensah finished in second with a time of 1:47.74. Third place was also claimed by the Lions, as a team comprised of Maddie Lynch, Morgen Frausto, Noelle Defabio and Nina Tasic finished with a time of 1:51.75. On the men's side, Piotr Kowalczyk, Mattia Giurgevich, Elliott Irwin and Patryk Winiatowski captured second with a 1:30.26 finish.
The women's 1000-yard freestyle was paced by the Lions as they claimed two of the three top finishes. Laney Fenton finished in first with a time of 10:39.91 and Megan Hollaar took third in 10:47.99. For the men, Jaxon Bradburn claimed third in 9:56.17. Marks displayed her athletic abilities with a first-place finish in the women's 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 59.00. Maja Piotrowicz captured first place in the women's 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.46. On the men's side, Giurgevich finished in second place with a time of 56.27.
Lance Godard scored third place in the men's 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.78. Lindenwood's Mensah captured third in the women's 50-yard freestyle in 24.62. Kornelia Buszka and Kayla Bulseco finished in second and third respectively with times of 54.08 and 54.13, while Ondrej Dusa claimed third on the men's side in 45.89.
In the women's 200-yard backstroke, Marks once again left her mark with a time of 2:08.27 for first place, as teammate Ellie Lopez finished in third with a time of 2:10.71. Jose Ochoa claimed third for the men with a time of 1:57.92. Kathryn Chaves finished in 2:26.87 in the women's 200-yard breaststroke for second place. Polat Tasbasi also finished in second on the men side in 2:07.31. Lyssa Wod claimed first in the women's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.94. For the men, Adam Szczerba took third in 4:49.13.
In the women's 100-yard butterfly, Nina Tasic and Kayla Bulseco each claimed a position in the top three, with Tasic taking second in 59.83, while Bulseco claimed third with a time of 1:00.44. For the men, Irwin finished in second with a time of 49.06. Lopez and Chaves claimed second and third in the women's 200-yard IM, with times of 2:12.75 and 1:13.10 respectively. Matheo Mateos-Mongelos took third in the men's competition with a time of 1:55.66.
Mensah, Buszka, Piotrowicz and Adi Luker finished in second in the women's 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:34.48, while two Lindenwood men's teams finished in the top three. Irwin, Kowalczyk, Dusa and Tasbasi finished with a time of 3:03.36 for first place. Mateos-Mongelos, Szczerba, Godard and Giurgevich claimed third in 3:11.21.
Let's dive into the diving competition. In the women's 1-meter diving, Selena Corona and Bayley Thompson took second and third with scores of 242.46 and 236.92. For the men, Lindenwood swept the competition away, taking first, second, and third place. David Molina-Fregenal (322.57), Bennet Loving (300.30) and Noah Boyd (295.65) claimed the podium in that order. In the women's 3-meter dive, Bayley Thompson finished in second (234.67) while Corona finished in third (205.05). On the men's side, the Lions once again swept the competition. Molina-Fregenal (307.80) claimed first, Loving (300.30) took second and Boyd (292.72) finished in third.
The Lions will be back in action on Saturday, January 20th at 1:00 pm, when they host the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Maryland Heights, Missouri, at Pattonville High School.
