Swimming and Diving Concludes Successful Outing at Thomas Murphy Invitational

Friday, November 3

Baltimore, Md.

5 p.m.

Drexel University

Thomas Murphy Invitational (Loyola (Md.), Johns Hopkins, West Chester)

Swimming and Diving Concludes Successful Outing at Thomas Murphy Invitational

11/4/2017 6:14:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

FULL MEET RESULTS | TEAM SCORES | HIGH POINT SWIMMING | HIGH POINT DIVING

BALTIMORE - The Drexel swimming and diving team had a successful outing at the 2017 Thomas Murphy Invitational hosted by Loyola (Md.) The men's squad earned a first place finish with a total of 954.50 points, while the women's team placed third with a score of 754. Sophomore Jason Arthur won high point for the men's swimming, while sophomore diver Anthony Musciano won high point for diving. On the women's side, sophomore Alexa Kutch broke two pool records on her way to a fourth-place overall finish.

Kutch's pool records came in her 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke swims. The sophomore clocked in at 55.44 in the 100-yard swim and at 1:59.71 in the 200-yard. She also contributed to a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay alongside freshman Gabrielle Rudy, sophomore Hollie Hopf, and senior Tanja Kirmse with a time of 1:45.17.

Kirmse had success on the weekend as well, adding a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle on the first day of competition, a second-place time of 1:53.99 in the 200-yard freestyle, and a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.34. Junior April Forsthoffer added a third-place finish at 2:08.34 in the 200-yard butterfly, while junior Charlotte Myers followed close behind at 2:08.40 to place fourth. Rudy also finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.27 to round out the first-place finishes for the Dragons.

Arthur earned a first-place overall finish after placing first in three individual events, contributing to two relay second-place finishes, and adding a third-place finish as a part of the 200-yard medley relay. His first-place swims came in the 200-yard IM (1:51.01), the 100-yard backstroke (50.85), and the 200-yard butterfly (1:52.29). Freshman Zachary Valenzuela added a second-place finish in the 200-yard IM (1:54.11) to give Drexel an added boost.

Rookie Kiran Richardson contributed to the first-place finishes of the both the 800-yard freestyle relay (6:50.83) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:05.67). He also placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.32 and in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.88. Stathis Malamas followed closely behind in the 100-yard freestyle with a second-place finish in 46.18. Richardson also placed second in the 400-yard medley relay alongside Valenzuela, Arthur, and Malamas after the squad clocked in at 3:24.67. In the 200-yard freestyle, Richardson earned a second-place time of 1:40.83, while junior Luke Hanner added a third-place finish at 1:42.26 and Malamas placed fourth at 1:43.88.

Junior Patrick Cobb recorded a second-place time of 4:37.17 in the 500-yard freestyle, while sophomore Spencer Hill clocked in at 51.59 in the 100-yard butterfly to earn a second-place spot. Rookie Rhys Kawaguchi added a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:55.03. In addition, Valenzuela and junior Joseph Brown placed third and fourth respectively in the 200-yard breaststroke to add points to the board for the Dragons.The 800-yard freestyle relay team consisting of junior Dane Bell, sophomore Andrew Zhugayevich, Kawaguchi, and sophomore Jon Pat Ransom, also added a third place finish with a time of 7:01.26.

On the diving side, Musciano won high point with a score of 37, while senior Simon Carne added a third-place finish with a score of 31. Musciano earned a first-place score in the 1-meter dive with a score of 269.25. In the 3-meter dive, Musciano placed second, while Carne added a third-place finish.

"I'm very happy with the team's performance over the last two days," said Head Coach Adam Braun. "This is a long weekend of competing and the team responded great. There were a number of standouts this weekend, but Alexa Kutch's two pool records are great swims for this time of year. Both the records she broke were from 2009 at a conference championship meet, with full racing suits on, she got them both in a regular dual meet suit. I'm excited to see where she and the team will be in two weeks at the Patroit Invite."

The Dragons will return to action in two weeks as they will travel to compete in the Patriot Invitational from Nov. 16-18 in Fairfax, Va.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING

FIRST PLACE
100 breast – Gabrielle Rudy – 1:05.27
100 back – Alexa Kutch – 55.44*
200 medley relay – Alexa Kutch, Gabrielle Rudy, Hollie Hopf, Tanja Kirmse – 1:45.17
200 back – Alexa Kutch – 1:59.71*
200 fly – Tanja Kirmse – 2:06.34

SECOND PLACE
200 free – Tanja Kirmse – 1:53.99
400 free relay – Alexa Kutch, Natalie Gundling, Victoria Palochik, Tanja Kirmse – 3:34.04

THIRD PLACE
400 medley relay – Alexa Kutch, Gabrielle Rudy, Charlotte Myers, Victoria Palochik – 3:52.90
500 free – Tanja Kirmse – 5:03.70
800 free relay – Tanja Kirmse, Niki Fistrovic, Natalie Gundling, Emily Joyce – 7:47.40
100 fly – Charlotte Myers – 58.31
100 back – Alicia Diaz – 58.06
200 fly – April Forsthoffer – 2:08.34

MEN'S SWIMMING

FIRST PLACE
200 IM – Jason Arthur – 1:51.01
50 free – Kiran Richardson – 21.32
800 free relay – Kiran Richardson, Luke Hanner, Patrick Cobb, Stathis Malamas – 6:50.83
100 back – Jason Arthur – 50.85
100 free – Kiran Richardson – 45.88
200 fly – Jason Arthur – 1:52.29
400 free relay – Stathis Malamas, Patrick Cobb, Luke Hanner, Kiran Richardson – 3:05.67

SECOND PLACE
400 medley relay – Kiran Richardson, Zachary Valenzuela, Jason Arthur, Stathis Malamas – 3:24.67
500 free – Patrick Cobb – 4:37.17
200 IM – Zachary Valenzuela – 1:54.11
200 free relay – Jason Arthur, Dave Kneiss, Stathis Malamas, Kiran Richardson – 1:25.14
100 fly – Spencer Hill – 51.59
200 free – Kiran Richardson – 1:40.83
100 free – Stathis Malamas – 46.18

THIRD PLACE
800 free relay – Dane Bell, Andrew Zhugayevich, Rhys Kawaguchi, Jon Pat Ransom – 7:01.26
200 free – Luke Hanner – 1:42.26
100 breast – Joseph Brown – 58.30
200 medley relay – Jason Arthur, Ralph Cannarozzi III, Spencer Hill, Dave Kneiss – 1:34.44
200 back – Rhys Kawaguchi – 1:55.03
200 breast – Zachary Valenzuela – 2:05.11

MEN'S DIVING

1-meter Diving
1^st place – Anthony Musciano – 269.25

3-meter Diving
2^nd place – Anthony Musciano – 242.45
3^rd place – Simon Carne – 199.35

*Pool record