Men’s and Women’s Swimming Split at Bridgewater State University

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Elms College men's and women's swim teams had a total of five swimmers earn three first place finishes as the Blazers earned a split with Bridgewater State University during Wednesday afternoon's swim meet that saw both teams honor the victims of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn.

The men's team posted a 162-121 victory and improves to 5-0 on the season, while the women's team suffered a 163-123 setback and moves to 1-6 overall.

On the men's side, the 200-yard medley relay team of freshmen James Grippo (Longmeadow, Mass.), Ethan Etheridge (Pawtucket, R.I.), Kyle Murphy (Holyoke, Mass.) and Andrew Pioggia (East Longmeadow, Mass.) clocked a time of 1:52.46 to place first in the event.

Grippo added three individual first place finishes in the 50-yard backstroke (28.39), the 200-yard backstroke (2:14.67) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:32.27), while freshman Stephen Lynch (Madison, Conn.) added a trio of top times. Lynch touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.97), the 100-yard butterfly (59.96) and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.09.

Etheridge added two first place marks in the 50-yard breaststroke and the 50-yard butterfly with respective times of 30.38 and 26.74, and freshman Mikhail Kuyuzov (Swampscott, Mass.) won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.01) and the 100-yard individual medley (1:02.81).

Senior Mark Gehring (West Springfield, Mass.) won the 1000-yard freestyle (11:41.18), followed in second by Murphy (11:45.37), while junior Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) clocked a time of 23.98 to secure first in the 50-yard freestyle.

Gehring finished second in the 50-yard freestyle (24.77) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:34.63), Starke placed second in the 50-yard butterfly (27.46), Murphy added a second place time of 29.71 in the 200-yard freestyle and freshman Niels Thomsen (Southington, Conn.) earned third place in the 200-yard freestyle (2:14.26).

The 200-yard medley relay squad of Lynch, Starke, Gehring and Thomsen earned a first place finish with a time of 1:36.88 to close out the men's highlights.

For the women, seniors Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.) and Emalee Furtek (Ludlow, Mass.), and junior Devon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) propelled the Blazers, notching three wins each.

Dudunake touched the wall first in 50-yard breaststroke (34.09), the 100-yard breaststroke (1:26.58) and the 100-yard IM (1:08.57).

Furtek won the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle events with respective times of 1:07.35 and 1:01.20 and powered to top honors in the 50-yard butterfly (29.14).

DeGrazia clocked first place in the 200-yard freestyle (2:02.55), 50-yard freestyle (26.88), and the 500-yard freestyle (5:33.74).

Junior Emily Schneider (West Kingston, R.I.) swam to a second place mark in the 1000-yard freestyle (13:22.63), and senior Tricia Ruell (Chicopee, Mass.) placed second twice in the 50-yard backstroke (34.18) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:16.33).

Junior Kelly Gilhooly (Bloomfield, Mass.) touched the wall third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:17.04) and junior Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.) registered a pair of third place marks in the 50-yard breaststroke and 100-yard breaststroke with times of 39.96 and 1:38.89 in that order.

The relay team of DeGrazia, Furtek, Schneider and Dudunake capped the meet with a first place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, powering to a time of 1:51.11.

Both teams return to the pool on Saturday, January 12 when they travel to Mount Saint Mary College (N.Y.) for a 1:00 p.m. contest.