Men’s and Women’s Swimming Split at Mount Saint Mary College (N.Y.)

NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Elms College freshman Stephen Lynch (Madison, Conn.) set a new school record in the 200-yard backstroke, while senior Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.) and juniorDevon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) each won three individual events as the Blazers swam to a split against Mount Saint Mary College (N.Y.) on Saturday afternoon in Newburgh, N.Y.

The men's team posted a 105-54 victory and now stand at 6-0 on the season, while the women's team suffered a 114-88 loss and are now 1-7 overall.

Lynch swam to a school-record time of 2:11.89 in the 200-yard backstroke and added a victory in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.47.

Freshmen James Grippo (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Ethan Etheridge (Pawtucket, R.I.) each added two wins. Grippo touched the wall first in the 1650-yard freestyle (19:14.19) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:19.98), while Etheridge tabbed first place honors in the 200-yard individual medley (2:17.78) and the 100-yard freestyle (54.25).

Senior Mark Gehring (West Springfield, Mass.) added a first place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:28.64), while freshman Kyle Murphy (Holyoke, Mass.) and junior Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) each registered a pair of second place finishes.

The 400-yard medley relay team of Grippo, Etheridge, junior Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) and Gehring won the event with a time of 4:00.61.

For the women, Dudunake powered to three first place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle (27.07), the 100-yard freestyle (1:01.21) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:45.59).

DeGrazia also clocked three top times including the 1650-yard freestyle (19:05.24), the 200-yard freestyle (2:05.72) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:35.45).

Senior Emalee Furtek (Ludlow, Mass.) claimed second place in both the 200-yard IM and the 200-yard butterfly with respective times of 2:39.17 and 2:42.04, while senior Tricia Ruell (Chicopee, Mass.) glided to a second-best time of 1:14.42 in the 100-yard backstroke.

The Blazers' women's team is back in action on Wednesday, January 16 at Western New England University at 6:00 p.m. and both teams return to Partyka Natatorium on Saturday, January 19 when they host Norwich University at 1:00 p.m.