Swimming and diving win at Loyola Invitational | The Triangle

Swimming and diving win at Loyola Invitational

The Drexel University women’s swimming team took home five first-place wins day two of the Thomas Murphy Invitational. (Photograph courtesy of Drexel Athletics)

The Drexel University men’s diving team began their season with a competition right here in the Daskalakis Athletic Center against La Salle University and Villanova University Oct. 20.

In the 1-meter springboard, sophomore Anthony Musciano finished in second place behind La Salle’s Dylan Yurasits. Musciano also finished in sixth in the 3-meter dive. Senior Simon Carne finished in fourth place in the 1-meter and second place in the 3-meter.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Baltimore to compete in the Thomas Murphy Invitational Nov. 3-4.

The competing teams were John Hopkins University, West Chester University and Loyola University. After day one, the Drexel women were in fourth place with a score of 222 trailing the leader Johns Hopkins who tallied 298 points.

The men were currently leading after day one with a score of 325.5 points, which was 33 points ahead of Johns Hopkins’ men’s team who were in second.

Sophomore Jason Arthur took first place in the 200-yard IM with freshman Zachary Valenzuela finishing behind him in second. Freshman Kiran Richardson swam to a first place finish in the 50-yard freestyle to debut his first season as a Dragon. Junior Patrick Cobb swam to a second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

The men competed in the 800-yard freestyle relay and took first and third place and the 400-yard medley relay for a second place time.

On the women’s side, the Dragons claimed three third-place finishes on day one.

Senior Tanja Kirmse placed third in the 500-yard freestyle. The women’s 400-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay teams earned two third place finishes to round out the day.

The men’s diving team also competed on day one; in the 3-meter dive, Musciano placed second, Carne placed third, and freshman Joel Keefer took fourth.

Day two proceeded Nov. 4 with more successful finishes for the Dragons.

The men’s swimming team had seven first-place finishes, seven second-place finishes and six third-place finishes. On the women’s swimming team, there were five first-place finishes, two second-place, and six third-place.

Arthur took first in the 200-yard IM, the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly. Richardson claimed first in the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle and participated on both the 800-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay teams which both took first place. The 800-yard freestyle relay team also included impressive showings from Cobb, junior Luke Hanner and sophomore Stathis Malamas.

Malamas also competed on the 400-yard medley relay team and the 200-yard freestyle relay team which both placed second. He claimed his own second-place swim in the 100-yard freestyle race with a time of 46.18.

Valenzuela took a second place finish in the 200-yard IM while sophomore Spencer Hill swam to a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.

The men’s team claimed first overall as a team at the Thomas Murphy Invitational after both days of competition.

For the women’s swimming team, sophomore Alexa Kutch had an impressive showing in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke taking first place in both events on Day two. In doing so, she broke the pool records for both of these events. She also swam in the 200-yard medley relay team for another first place finish.

Kirmse swam to a first place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.34. She also competed in the 200-yard medley relay. She got second place in the 200-yard freestyle swim.

Freshman Gabrielle Rudy made her debut appearance as a Dragon with two first place finishes, in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.27) and on the 200-yard medley relay team.

The women’s 400-yard freestyle relay team included Kutch, freshmen Natalie Gundling and Victoria Palochik, and Kirmse, who gave Drexel a second-place finish.

The women finished the competition in third place ahead of Loyola University.

For men’s diving, Musciano placed first in the 1-meter dive and second in the 3-meter dive. Carne came in third behind Musciano in the 3-meter dive.

Musciano was named the Colonial Athletic Association Diver of the Week for his impressive performances this season. He is returning from an outstanding freshman year here at Drexel, and he is predicted to have great success this season as well.

Kutch was named the Drexel University School of Education Dragon of the Week alongside Aaron Fricke from the men’s golf team.

The men’s and women’s swimming teams will travel to Fairfax, Virginia Nov. 16-18 to compete in the Patriot Invitational at George Mason University. The Dragons will be looking to continue their success this season.