Michigan State University
Michigan
Swim & Dive Celebrate Seniors in Final Home Meet
2/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State swimming and diving teams dropped its contests to Michigan, Feb. 4. The men fell by a score of 160-90, while the women dropped their meet 173-80. The Spartans raced at home for the final time of the season and the team honored their 11 seniors for their dedication to the program throughout the meet.
"Overall, I thought we swam well. I thought we had a good personal day," said head coach Matt Gianiodis. "We had a lot of season-bests. It was nice to do well for our seniors. They mean a lot, and they have done a lot of things for this program over the years. They've really made what I consider a championship level culture."
Senior Kennedy Cutler earned the first second-place finish for the women's team in the 50-yard breaststroke. She finished with a time of 29.69, and earned four points for the Spartans. Sophomore Ana Sortland was also in the race, taking fourth-place.
Freshman Kennedy Truex picked up a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle for a final time of 1:54.26. Freshman Iana Wolff raced to a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, touching the pad at 58.21. Sophomore Courtney Aycock was also in the race and took third place.
In the distance events, junior Haley Kornburger raced to a third-place finish with a final time of 5:00.10 in the 500-yard freestyle.
Sophomores Ana Sortland and Ellie Roche raced to second and third-place finishes with times of 1:04.33 and 1:04.69, respectively. Sophomore Brina Kari recorded a third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke.
On the diving piece, senior Madeline Sewell garnered a third-place finish in the one-meter diving with a score of 269.78, and in the three-meter dive sophomore Julia Oppedisano finished sixth.
The men began their meet with a close second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. In the order of team members, junior Alex Trompke, senior Alec Kandt, junior Nick Leshok and freshman Payton Woods touched the pad at 3:18.41.
Kandt had the highlight of the afternoon breaking a McCaffree Pool record in the 100-yard breaststroke. Kandt finished with a time of 53.45 in his first-place finish.
Junior Lachie McLeish garnered a second-place finish in the 50-yard backstroke with a finishing time of 23.52. In the 50-yard breaststroke, junior Nick Leshok also recorded a second-place finish with a time of 25.65.
Freshman Scott Piper garnered a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard IM, while junior Alex Duffy and freshman Phillip Meffert took fifth and sixth, respectively. Sophomore Gabe Whitaker picked up a third place in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 22.97.
Trompke placed in the top-three in all three of his events. He took second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49.40 and in the 100-yard IM Trompke took third on a time of 52.14. McLeish picked up another second-place finish with a time of 50.45 in the 100-yard backstroke.
For the distance events, junior Joe Szczupakiewicz raced to a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:34.78.
The men concluded the day with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.33. In order, the team consisted of Leshok, Woods, McLeish and Kandt.
For the men's diving, senior Brenna Labar took second in the one-meter dive with a final score of 300.90, while freshman Matthew De La Garza finished fifth on a score of 247.27. Labar also took third in the three-meter dive.
"We have to get a lot of rest before the Big Ten Championships," said Gianiodis. "They need to try to stay healthy, try not to get sick but really for us our training is done. They've trained really hard for almost an entire calendar year and now we are feeling good for the Big Tens."
Michigan State will now begin to gear up for the Big Ten Championships. The women's championship weekend is Feb. 15-18, and the men will be a week after on Feb. 22-25.
Players Mentioned
