Grand Rapids, Mich. — This past Saturday (Nov. 4) both Aquinas swim programs hosted a dual meet with the visiting Scots of Alma. Both the men and women managed to put on quite the display for their first and only home competition of the year, and paddled away with a victory each. 

In addition to this being the only home competition for Aquinas it was also Senior Night with a fun beach theme. Both seniors Maddy Critchell and Cesar Robles were founding members of the swim programs first season. 

Both the men and women won the meet on Saturday by a hefty margin. Here are some of the highlights:

The A 200 medley relay of Amelia Edens, Kennedy Pierce, Claire Hines and Chloe Boivin set the tone of the meet with a dominant win, with the Aquinas B medley relay of Emma Hale, Anna Benstead, Meghan Hincher and Izzy Feltch almost defeating Alma's A relay.

Boivin out-touched Alma to claim the win in the 200 freestyle (2:06.35), and in repeat fashion, she out-touched Alma by .05 seconds to claim the win in the 100 freestyle (56.56).

Pierce finished first in the 50 freestyle with a 25.65 - the fastest time across the board this season for the Saints. She was closely followed by Mezeske in third (27.05) and Katie Sanders in fourth (27.94).

After two weeks out of training with a concussion, Meghan Hincher made her come-back in school record-setting fashion, finishing first in the 400 IM (5:12.97). Critchell held her own by finishing third in the event (5:46.51).

Freshman diver Ashley McNamara had her diving debut on the 1M board, winning the event, setting a new school record and qualifying for the national meet with the score of 199.65. Sarah Colvin finished in second with the score of 166.35. Both divers will be competing on the 1M board at the NAIA national meet in March. Colvin finished first on the 3M board with the score of 153.30).

Hines fought for the win in the 100 fly by just .06 seconds, finishing with the time of 1:02.38.

Edens has an impressive finish in the 100 backstroke (1:00.52), winning the event and re-breaking her school record by nearly a second.

The women's 500 freestyle was the highest-scoring individual event of the meet, with the Saints claiming first, second, third and fifth place. Izzy Feltch won the event with a season-best time of 5:49.57, closely followed by Hale (5:53.55), Ella Althaver (5:56.57), and Ellie Hudson (6:02.67).

The 200 freestyle relay of Pierce, Hines, Mezeske and Edens sealed the overall meet win by out-touching Alma with a 1:43.80.

The men's 200 medley of Titus Smith, Cesar Robles, Collin Neely and Matt Dumbsky dominated the event, winning by over 10 seconds and finishing with the time of 1:38.62. 

Sophomore Conrad Eichbauer led the distance freestyle events, finishing in second place in both the 1,000 freestyle (10:50.34) and 500 freestyle (5:05.64) events. Eichbauer's 500 freestyle was his fastest regular-season time as a Saint and an all-time top four time in team history.

Smith stunned in the 200 freestyle (1:50.31), winning the event by nearly 10 seconds. Sophomore Tony Parlato chased down the competition to finish second with the time of 2:00.70.

Freshman diver Evan Bennett proved his athleticism as the highest point-scorer of the meet for the Saints, finishing first on both the 1M (240.59) and 3M (191.93) boards and finishing fifth in the 50 freestyle. It is extremely rare for a college diver to also be a point-scorer in swimming events, but Bennett proved he was up to the task.

Freshman diver Troy Borrero scored valuable points for the team by finishing second on both the 1M (206.77) and 3M (163.41) boards.

Freshman Collin Alward finished second in the 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 22.74.

In the 400 IM, the Saints finished second through fifth place, widening the team's margin of victory. Ben Szydlowski (4:43.11), Nick Bracken (4:43.41), Ian Clapp (4:54.51) and Jason Swenson (5:25.93) finished with all season-best times.

Hurtado swam to victory in the 100 fly (56.19), closely followed by teammate Neely in second place with a season-best time of 56.70.

Clapp dominated the 100 backstroke, finishing first by over 7 seconds with a season-best time of 56.48.

The Saints swept the 100 breaststroke event, with sophomore captain Luke Martin claiming the event victory with a season-best time of 59.93. Robles finished in second (1:00.68), and Parlato finished third (1:06.23).

The 200 freestyle relay of Dumbsky, Smith, Hurtado and Martin sealed the overall team win by finishing first with the time of 1:30.66.

Here's what Coach Hepp had to say about Saturday's performance: "We had an incredible meet this weekend where I saw both the men's and women's team step up to do battle in every event. It was an emotional day with honoring our seniors and competing in front of our home crowd for the last time this season, so each athlete was able to do something special in the water for the whole team which led to both team victories. We've been working hard on executing every race detail under stress and fatigue during practice, and it all came together today.

It's also notable that as of this meet, all four of our divers have officially qualified for the NAIA national meet in March! They've grown to be like a family, and they challenge each other every day in practice.

We are about to approach our mid-season invitational where we do a short taper, suit up and have some nationally-ranked performances, so we're back to work this upcoming week to prepare for a great meet in two weeks!"

The Saints are back in action at the Don Kimble Invite (Nov.17-19) which his hosted by Davenport at the East Kentwood High School Natatorium. Start times are still to be finalized, stay tuned for more details.