Men And Women’s Swimming Glide Past St. Joseph’s College (Maine)
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STANDISH, Maine – Elms College freshman swimmer Devon DeGrazia (Westford, Mass.) clocked a new school record in the 200-yard freestyle while freshman Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) won a pair of events on the men's side to help pace the Blazers to victory over St. Joseph's College (Maine) in Saturday afternoon's men and women's swimming dual meet in Standish, Maine.
The women's team defeated St. Joseph's 140-90 to improve to 2-0, while the men's squad downed the Monks 104-60 and move to 1-0 on the season.
On the women's side, the 200-yard medley relay team of sophomores Tricia Ruell (Chicopee, Mass.), Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.), Emalee Furtek (Ludlow, Mass.) and senior Theresa Pitassi (Naugatuck, Conn.) began the dual meet with a first place time of 2:06.78.
DeGrazia's new school record time of 2:06.63 in the 200-yard freestyle earned her first place honors, while her times of 26.32 in the 50-freestyle and 1:04.99 in the 100-yard backstroke were also good enough for first place.
Freshman Ashley Kirchner (Dalton, Mass.) won a pair of events including the 50-yard breaststroke (34.14) and the 100-yard freestyle (58.15). Furtek came in second in the 100-yard freestyle securing a personal-best time of 59.44 in the event.
Furtek added top honors in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 29.78, while freshmen Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.) and Julia Lane (West Springfield, Mass.) recorded victories in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard backstroke with respective times of 1:20.67 and 33.21.
For the men's team, Goan won the 50-yard freestyle (23.66) and the 50-yard butterfly (25.45), while sophomore Mark Gehring (West Springfield, Mass.) touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle in a top time of 1:58.34.
Junior Garrett Brune (Lakeville, Mass.) garnered first place honors in the 50-yard breaststroke (31.17) while senior Nick Whitman (Florence, Mass.) glided to a win in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 1:02.26.
Freshman Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) also picked up a win in the 100-yard freestyle (54.24) and he swam the anchor leg of the 200-yard medley relay squad of Goan, Brune and Whitman that won the event unopposed.
The Blazers' women's team is back in the pool on Tuesday, Nov. 16 when it hosts Smith College for a dual meet. Start time is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Partyka Natatorium. The men's squad returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 20 against Colby-Sawyer College at 1:00 p.m.
