Men’s Swimming Finishes Second at GNAC Invitational
BOSTON, Mass. – The Elms College men's swim team totaled 221 points and finished second overall following day two action of the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship hosted by Simmons College in Boston, Mass.
Norwich University won the invitational with a total of 335 points. Elms placed second with 221 points, followed by Regis College (134), Saint Joseph's College (Maine) (124) and Husson University with 44 points.
Sophomore Ethan Etheridge (Pawtucket, R.I.) set a new GNAC meet record with a time of 27.44 in the 50-yard breaststroke and set a new school mark in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:20.60 to capture a pair of first place finishes.
Freshman Nicklaus Cirillo (Gloversville, N.Y.) won the 1000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:45.38, while sophomore Stephen Lynch (Madison, Conn.) finished second in the event (10:47.06). Senior Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) won the 100-yard individual medley with a speedy time of 57.71 and added third place honors in the 50-yard backstroke (26.99).
Senior Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) added a second place mark in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 52.11, while Lynch and sophomore James Grippo (Longmeadow, Mass.) placed second and third in the 200-yard butterfly with respective times of 2:17.62 and 2:17.67.
Grippo added a fifth place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle (11:14.74), while sophomore Kyle Murphy (Holyoke, Mass.) came in eighth in the event with a time of 11:22.82.
Lych was sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.55), Cirillo was fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (53.30) and Starke was fifth in the 100-yard individual medley (1:02.94).
The relay team of Thomsen, Grippo, Murphy, and Cirillo clocked a time of 3:38.19 to finish third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, while the tandem of Lynch, Etheridge, Goan and Starke narrowly missed the meet record in the 200-yard medley relay with a winning time of 1:40.56.
Elms returns to action on Wednesday, January 8 when it hosts Bridgewater State University at 4:00 p.m. at Partyka Natatorium.
