Men's and Women's Swim Teams to Host Gordon College, Simmons College

The Matchup: Gordon College Fighting Scots (0-1, men; 0-1 women) vs. Simmons College Sharks (1-0 women) vs. Elms College Blazers (0-0 men; 0-0 women)
Date: Saturday, November 3
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Site: Partyka Natatorium (Chicopee, Mass.)
Click here for directions to Elms College

Scouting the Blazers
Saturday’s meet marks the home opener for both the Blazers’ men’s and women’s swim teams. Elms College’s men’s squad is fresh off a second place finish out of six teams at the Mount Saint Vincent Relay Invitational in Yonkers, N.Y. on Oct. 27 in its 2012-13 season opener. 

The Blazers swam seven relay events and earned first place in the 200-yard medley and the 400-yard medley relays. The team of freshmen Stephen Lynch (Madison, Conn.) and Ethan Etheridge (Pawtucket, R.I.), and juniors Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) and Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) set a new school record with a time of 1:43.32 en route to top honors in the event. The combination of freshmen Kyle Murphy (Holyoke, Mass.), Etheridge, James Grippo (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Mikhail Kuyuzov (Swampscott, Mass.) won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 4:07.95.

In addition to its two first place marks, the Blazers’ men’s team posted five second place finishes in the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.71), 200-yard breaststroke (2:10.22), 200-yard butterfly (1:48.93), 200-yard freestyle (1:35.85) and 500-yard freestyle (4:33.85) relay events.

The Elms College women’s team finished second out of six teams at the Mount Saint Vincent Relay Invitational in the 2012-13 season opener. 

The Blazers’ combination of senior Chalis Bird (Windsor, Mass.), Stephanie Tobin (Williamsburg, Mass.), and seniors Emalee Furtek (Ludlow, Mass.) and Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.) clocked a first place time of 2:04.93 in the 200-yard medley relay, and the team of seniors Dudunake, Tricia Ruell (Chicopee, Mass.), Furtek and Bird notched first place honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:51.94). Elms also won the 500-yard freestyle relay in a time of 5:10.85 behind the strong swimming of Tobin, Dudunake, Bird, Furtek and junior Jillian Francis (Methuen, Mass.).

Scouting the Fighting Scots
Gordon College opened its 2012-13 campaign at Colby-Sawyer College on Oct. 27. 

The relay team of Austin Drukker (Bedford, N.H.), Joshua Florez (West Hartford, Conn.), Brett Johnson (Easton, Mass.), and Cameron Schofield (Middleboro, Mass.) took a top finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:50.29, while Johnson, Drukker, Schofield, and Andrew Lewis (Mystic, Conn.) combined for a first place result in the 200-yard freestyle relay clocking a time of 1:40.08.

Individually, Florez had a banner day with top finishes in the 50-yard (29.96) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.42) events, Johnson took top honors in the 50-yard (27.34) and 100-yard butterfly (1:03.86) events, and Schofield bested the field in both the 50-yard (24.27) and 100-yard freestyle (53.50) races. Additionally, Lewis posted a winning time of 5:34.60 in the 500-yard freestyle.

Gordon College's women's team began its season at Colby-Sawyer College and finished second in its 2012-13 opening event. 

Katherine Zablocki (Walnut Creek, Calif.) led the Fighting Scots’ effort with top finishes in the 50-yard (33.93) and 100-yard (1:13.76) breaststroke, while Emily David (North Kingston, R.I.) did the same in the 100-yard backstroke (1:06.25) and 100-yard individual medley (1:07.32). Rounding out Gordon’s first place finishes was Nicole St. Martin (Westport, Mass.), who swam to a time of 2:09.17 in the 200-yard freestyle.

Scouting the Sharks 
Simmons College swam to victory in its 2012-13 season opener at Westfield State University on Oct. 27. 

Jen Collins (Trumbull, Conn.) led the sharks with individual wins in the 200-yard and 100-yard freestyle events with respective times of 2:08.54 and 57.50 and posted a top time in the 200-yard individual medley (2:21.73). Amy Davis (Southbury, Conn.) added wins in the 50-yard butterfly (29.95) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:07.35), and served as the lead leg in Simmons’ 200-yard freestyle relay team that registered a winning time of 1:48.56. Maddy McDonald (Westwood, Mass.) and Marissa Soucy (Mount Vernon, N.H.) swam the middle legs, while Collins finished as the anchor.