CANTON, Ohio (Nov. 19) - The Saint Vincent College men's swimming team cruised to the team championship at the 2022 Malone University Invitational.
Over the three-day event, the Bearcats amassed 1,690 points, more than doubling-up second-place Malone (890).
Thursday, Nov. 17
The Bearcat men posted first-place finishes in both events on night one at Malone.
Rookie Nicholas Jackman got things rolling by placing first in the 1,650 freestyle in a time of 17:14.18, 13 seconds ahead of classmate Jacob Bacasa (17:27.79).
Saint Vincent would then go on to occupy two of the top three spots in the 200 freestyle relay. The foursome of Krist Smith, Colin Spehar, Alex Leskovansky and Jacob Dzurica posted a winning time of 1:28.65, while the SVC quartet of Noah Schollaert, Hayden Klein, Robert Harrington and Anton Seifert recorded a time of 1:35.36 to place third.
Friday, Nov. 18
Dzurica posted his first individual win of the weekend in the first event on Friday, turning in a victorious time of 21.90 seconds in the 50 freestyle. The race saw three Bearcats place in the top four, with Leskovansky taking third in 22.27 seconds and Klein fourth in 23.85.
The Bearcats swept the top three spots in each of the next two events. In the 400 IM, Chris Bush picked up the win in 4:19.89, edging out the runner-up Jackman, who was timed in 4:20.37. Bacasa rounded out the top three with a time of 4:40.22.
In the 100 butterfly, Spehar took the win in 54.43 seconds, just ahead of second-place Schollaert (54.85), while Klein took third (58.14) and Anton Seifert fourth (1:00.25).
Smith and Leskovansky went 1-2 in the 200 freestyle, with the former timed in 1:45.37 and the latter 1:50.32, before Bush earned runner-up in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.55.
Dzurica earned the win in the 100 back in 52.41 seconds, with Seifert placing third, while the quartet of Jackman, Harrington, Schollaert and Bush teamed up to take second in the 800 free relay in 7:42.35.
Saturday, Nov. 19
After Dzurica set a school record in Saturday's 200 backstroke prelims with a time of 1:56.29, he opened Saturday night's finals by teaming with Smith, Spehar and Leskovansky to earn a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay in 1:38.60. The second place spot was also occupied by the Bearcats, with Seifert, Bush, Schollaert and Klein posting a runner-up time of 1:45.10.
Smith earned his second win of the night in the 200 individual medley, timed in 2:00.00, with Schollaert taking third in 2:09.77.
Jackman and Bacasa finished first and second in the 500 free, with times of 4:54.72 and 5:06.91, before Dzurica nearly bested his record set six hours earlier with a winning time of 1:56.76 in the 200 back.
Smith's third win of the night came in the 100 freestyle in a time of 48.44 seconds, nipping teammate Alex Leskovansky's mark of 48.70 seconds.
Bush placed second in the 200 breaststroke in 2:14.05, before Spehar took first (2:07.62) and Schollaert third (2:08.92).
Saint Vincent then closed out the weekend with a 14-second victory in the 400 freestyle relay, as Dzurica, Spehar, Leskovansky and Smith recorded a winning time of 3:15.32.
Over the three-day, 40-event invite, the Bearcat men racked up 1,690 points, more than doubling up host Malone (809).
The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 3, hosting Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Washington & Jefferson at 1 p.m. in the Resnik Pool.
