Oilers Men Take Down #20 Saginaw Valley State
Bay City, Mich. – The University of Findlay men's and women's swimming and diving teams both made the trip north to Bay City, Michigan to take on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Saturday, Oct. 23. The Oilers' men's team, which entered the weekend receiving votes in the CSCAA (College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America) Preseason Poll, narrowly defeated the Cardinals, ranked no. 20 in the country, by a score of 120-to-117. It was the Oilers first-ever victory over Saginaw. Findlay's women were defeated in a close dual, falling by a score of 128-to-113.
Men
Without a diver in the competition, the Oilers' men would begin the dual in a hole. Coming down the stretch, the score was close. In the second-to-last event, Findlay got big performances by sophomore Daniel Garcia and sophomore Luca Chiandussi who took first and second in the 100-yard breaststroke with times of 56.20 and 56.38, respectively. Those times are now the eighth and tenth fastest in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) history, but more importantly, gave the Oilers 13 points and a 114-106 lead heading into the final event of the night, the 200 free relay.
Findlay's team of junior Tim Stollings, freshman Angel Margaritov, sophomore Dags Bregis, and freshman Jaden Humphrey secured second place with a time of 1:24.52, eighth-best in conference history, to pick up four points. Sophomore Adam Hornak, sophomore Aidan Shue, freshman Joe Kroeger, and senior Alex Bouhlel sealed the victory with a third place finish in a time of 1:27.13, just a tenth of a second ahead of the team from SVSU in fourth.
In the men's first event of the day, junior Tim Stollings, Garcia, freshman Camilo Montano Marrugo, and freshman Angel Margaritov teamed up to win in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:31.36, the fourth-fastest time in G-MAC history. Close behind was the team of senior Paul Pavala, Chiandussi, freshman Jaden Humphrey, and sophomore Dags Bregis who picked up four points with a second-place finish in 1:34.45. Bregis would also win the 100 yard freestyle later in the day, winning with a time of 46.88.
In the 1000-yard freestyle, freshman Rafael Machado Lozano scored with a second-place finish with 16 of his 20 lengths of the pool being recorded in less than 30 seconds. He touched the wall in a time of 9:49.17, now the tenth-fastest time in conference history.
Later, Montano Marrugo took top spot in the 50 free with a time of 21.10. He was followed by Chiandussi who took second with a 21.60.
Garcia took to the pool in the 400 individual medley and set the eighth-best time in conference history with a 4:06.12 to earn first place while Marrugo Montano had another win, this time in the 100 fly, winning with a time of 50.07.
In the 100 yard backstroke, Findlay standout Tim Stollings, who is the record holder in the event for both the school and the conference, cruised to a win in the event with a 50.37, almost four seconds off his personal-best.
Women
Findlay's women took the Cardinals down to the wire, as well, and were neck-and-neck with the host heading into the 3-meter dive late in the day. The Oilers' Addi Fleischman took second in that event and the Oilers still trailed with just two events remaining.
As a team, the Oilers did all they could, but came up just short. Senior Kristina Coleman won the 100 yard breaststroke with a 1:08.28 and was followed by junior Rachel Poling who took second with a 1:08.77.
Findlay got a win in the final event of the night, the 200 freestyle relay, as freshman Sasha Melnyk, freshman Macy May, sophomore Cecilia Langle, and freshman Edith Somrah teamed up to win with a time of 1:39.94. Those points were not quite enough as it was too little, too late for Findlay.
Melnyk, senior Erin Butler, May, and freshman Sydney Jones got the day started in the 200 medley relay, winning the event by just over a second with a time of 1:49.95. Melnyk also had an individual win in the 100 yard backstroke, winning with a 58.17.
Cecilia Langle later picked up a victory, touching the wall in 1:57.23 in the 200 yard freestyle to take top spot. The Cancun, Mexico native wrapped up her day in the 500 freestyle, taking first place again. Her time of 5:16.81 put her almost five seconds ahead of SVSU's second place finisher.
Findlay is back in the pool on Nov. 5 when they head to Cleveland, Ohio for a tri-meet with Cleveland State and Oberlin.