Swimming dominates, takes first and second

The Hopkins men’s swimming team remained undefeated (3-0) while the women’s team fell to 3-1 at the Thomas Murphy Invitational this past weekend at Loyola University in Baltimore. The men were dominvant in defeating both Marywood and Loyola, winning 16 of the 18 events over the two-day meet. The Blue Jay women won eight out of 18 events en route to defeating Marywood and St. Francis but could not outscore the host Greyhounds.

The Jay men were extremely impressive on the opening day of the invitational, winning all five events on Friday. In the 400 Medley Relay, juniors Dylan Davis and Greg Kogut and seniors Joe Acquaviva and Anthony Lordi prevailed over second place by eight seconds, winning with a time of 3:25.66. Freshman Andrew Greenhalgh didn’t miss a beat for the Jays in the 500 Free, winning by more than six seconds with a time of 4:53.72. He was followed by fellow freshman Josh Hughes, who placed third in 4:48.61 and junior Berkay Polat, who placed fifth in 4:53:72.

In the 200 IM, a quartet of Jays swept the first four spots in the event. Acquaviva won the event in 1:58.51, just out-touching freshman Patrick Flynn by two-hundredths of a second. Freshman Scott Sterrett placed third in 1:58.51, and finishing right behind him was fellow classmate Muhammad Hudhud in 2:00.35. Hopkins built on their meet lead in the 50 Free, as Lordi (20.92) and Kogut (21.49) took first and third in the event.

The Jays completed their perfect Friday by sweeping the top two spots in the 800 Free Relay. Greenhalgh, Hughes, Lordi and junior Ryan Cunningham won the event in a time of 7:02.98. The second place team included Hudhud, Sterrett, Flynn and freshman Jeremy Bauchwitz, who finished with a total time of 7:06.98.

The women had four second-place finishes on the first day of competition. Hopkins opened the meet in the 400 Medley Relay, placing second to Loyola. Sophomore Sean McGrath, freshman Pilar Shimizu and seniors Taylor Kitayama and Sara Rinsma swam a time of 4:00.18. Junior Sammi Fox placed second in the 200 IM as well (1:42.33) but was first among collegiate competitors. Senior Kylie Terns was just edged out by 0.16 seconds in the 50 Free and finished second in 24.60.

To end their Friday night, the women took second and third place in the 800 Free Relay. Rinsma, sophomore Ellen Marcus, McGrath and junior Ana Bogdanovski finished in 7:49.05 — good enough for second place. The team of Kitayama, freshman Emily Lubin, freshman Kristen Kaiser and sophomore Megan Auzenbergs finished third in 8:00.04.

On Saturday, the Jay men showcased their talent and depth by winning 11 out of 13 events and defeating both of their opponents by over 119 points. Hudhud picked up the first victory for Hopkins in the 400 IM (4:10.86) touching the wall eight seconds ahead of second.

The Jays swept first, second and third in the 100 Fly. Kogut (51.37), Woodford (53.30) and Pagano (53.94) dominated the pool in this event. The men fared even better in the 200 Free by taking the top four spots. Lordi (1:42.02), Hughes (1:45.93), Greenhalgh (1:46.12) and Bauchwitz (1:46.90) led the charge for the Jays.

The most impressive performance of the day for the Jays came from Greenhalgh, who beat the field in the 1650 Free by more than 42 seconds. His 16:06.41 is an NCAA provisional time in that event. Other individual winners on the day included Davis in the 100 Back (51.86), Lordi in the 100 Free (46.29), Hudhud in the 200 Fly (1:55.30) and Sterrett sweeping the 100 (59.67) and 200 Breaststroke (2:12.65).

The men added to their already impressive win total in the 200 Medley Relay and the 400 Free Relay. Davis, Acquaviva, Woodford and Lordi won the 200 Medley in a time of 1:35.46. In the 400 Free Relay, Acquaviva, Kogut, Bauchwitz and Flynn won by over five seconds with a time of 3:10.85.

Not to be overshadowed, the women’s team had an extremely successful Saturday at the Thomas Murphy Invitational as well. They won eight of 13 swimming events overall and produced three separate individual champions throughout the day. Freshman Shirley Chan was victorious in the 200 Fly, finishing in a time of 2:06.88. Bogdanovski won both the 100 (51.80) and 200 (1:54.74) Free, and her 100 Free time was enough to earn her an NCAA provisional time.

Kitayama, however, proved to be the star of this invitational for the Jays. She led Hopkins with a trio of individual wins and swam on the winning 400 Free Relay while posting three NCAA provisional times on Saturday. She won the 100 Fly (56.23) and swept the Backstroke events, winning at both the 100 (57.44) and 200 (2:03.97) meter distances.

Kitayama commented on her success. “Having my teammates cheering for me at the end of my lane always inspires me to push myself in a race,” she said. “We’ve been training very hard both in and out of the pool this season, and I think the results are definitely showing.”

For her efforts, Kitayama was selected as the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Swimmer of the Week.

Both teams are idle this coming weekend and will return to action at the Gettysburg Invitational on Nov. 22-23.