BRIDGEWATER, Va. – In the first competition of the new year, the Southern Virginia University men's and women's swim teams fell to Bridgewater College.
"Bridgewater brought in several new faster swimmers this year which really helped them compete well," stated Head Coach
Jennifer Moore after the meet. "We don't normally swim short course meters and their pool is a 25 meter pool instead of NCAA regulation 25 yard which also worked to their advantage."
In the opening event, the 200 medley relay, both the men's and women's relay teams were neck and neck with Bridgewater teams from start to finish. In the men's race,
Stuart Burbidge, the relay anchor, cut into the lead the Eagles created, setting up for an extremely close finish. Ultimately both teams would come in second place in the relays.
In the first solo event, the women's 800 free,
Riley Mortensen got off to a great start to take an early lead. She would build on her lead throughout the race to win by more than 38 seconds, giving her team nine points.
The men's 800 freestyle featured another close finish. Bridgewater swimmer, Ean Helmlinger, built an early lead, creating a three-way battle for second place between
Austin Barton and two other Eagle swimmers. Barton entered the last 25 meters behind Albert McNaull, but gave everything in the last length and stretched out to reach the wall first and grab second place.
In the next race, the women's 200 free, Cece Hooley held second place for most of the race but was beat to the wall by three hundredths of a second by Eve Umberger who came from behind, giving the Knights a third-place finish. Hooley's 2:22.95 was a personal best.
Stuart Burbidge battled with Kristopher Schultz through the entirety of the men's 200 freestyle, but beat him to the wall by just over a tenth of a second to earn nine points for the team. His 2:01.92 was a personal best.
In the men's 100 backstroke,
Parker Kam earned in early lead with a great start in the opening 25, but would lose ground in the next 50 meters. The margin of victory was less than half a second for Andrea Cibrario of Bridgewater.
In the following men's event, the 100 breaststroke,
Caleb Wynn battled with two Eagle swimmers. In the final leg, Bridgewater's Luke Wintersgill pulled away from the pack. Wynn's 1:10.77 was good for second place and four points.
Kelsie Drennen, the only Southern Virginia swimmer in the 200 fly, dominated from the get go. Her 2:30.68 time secured a victory of over 25 seconds.
In the men's 200 fly
Josh Axtell built an early lead after impressive splits, but was overtaken by two Eagles in the final 50 to come in third place.
In the shortest race of the afternoon, the 50 free, the Knights would earn victories on both sides. In the women's race
Jamie Horne's 28.33 was good for first place, while the men took first, second and fourth.
Josh Skabelund and
Stuart Burbidge would both record personal bests and take first and second respectively with
Porter Jones right behind them.
After a short break, swimming resumed with the 100 freestyle with Southern Virginia again dominating.
Jamie Horne and
Josh Skabelund would win their second consecutive races, earning nine points apiece. On the men's side,
Carson Macdonald and
Austin Barton would finish second and third for 16 total points in the event.
Kelsie Drennen took an early lead and held onto the advantage throughout the entirety of the 200 backstroke to earn her second triumph of the meet.
In the men's 200 back
Parker Kam and
Lane Evans took second and third respectively.
Caleb Wynn battled against Luke Wintersgill in the 200 breaststroke, but in the final 50 meters the Bridgewater swimmer took control. Wynn would finish second and earn four points for the team.
In the next event, the women's 400 free,
Riley Mortensen took control of the race from the start and never looked back, winning by over 10 seconds.
Stuart Burbidge would again clash with Bridgewater's Ean Helmlinger, this time in the 400 freestyle. After a hard-fought race, Burbidge came away with a second-place finish, reaching the wall less than a second after Helmlinger.
In the women's 100 fly
Kelsie Drennen would earn her third victory of the afternoon. Drennen's quick start propelled her to an early lead, but Alexis Roberts did everything she could to catch the Knight swimmer but was unsuccessful.
Parker Kam and
Lincoln Garcia would finish second and third respectively in the men's 100 fly, earning their team seven points.
The 200 IM featured another solid finish for the Knights, with
Jamie Horne and
Riley Mortensen taking second and third respectively while
Caleb Wynn finished second in the men's race.
The men's team would close out the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay to earn 11 points.
Despite the loss, many Southern Virginia swimmers impressed, led by
Kelsie Drennen whose three first-place finished tied for the most of any swimmer at the event.
Jamie Horne,
Riley Mortensen and
Josh Skabelund all earned two triumphs while Horne also added a second-place finish.
Stuart Burbidge was another Knight who raced hard, ending the day with a victory and two very close second-place finishes.
"The women have never won more events than the men that I can remember, so that was sort of historic for our women's team," added coach Moore. "We're hoping more of our men's team are able to come to winter training in the future. Some of our performances reflect that we've been out of school and unfortunately out of the water too much over the last month."
Southern Virginia will look to get back on track against another Old Dominion Athletic Conference opponent when they travel to Lynchburg on Saturday, Jan. 28.
For all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University men's and women's swimming, please visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_swimming on Instagram.
