The Beloit College swimming and diving program hosted Knox College for the inaugural meet in the Robert G. Nicholls Natatorium in the Powerhouse Saturday afternoon. The Buccaneers split with the men topping the Prairie Fire 156-25 and the women falling to Knox 125-87 Saturday.
The Bucs' new home is named for a man that left a lasting impact on Beloit College. Robert Nicholls wore many hats during his more than 40-year tenure at Beloit College including athletic director, instructor and coach of the football, basketball, tennis, wrestling and swimming and diving programs. On his 40th Beloit anniversary, the college estimated that "Coach Nick" had worked with more than 3,000 student-athletes. In 2001, Nicholls was inducted into the Beloit College Athletic Hall of Honor. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 91.
Five Buccaneer men won individual events at the meet Saturday.
Camden Leonard led Beloit with three golds. The Bucs went 1-2-3 in the 50 free led by Leonard's 22.10 followed by
Tenajh Gaitor in second and
David Morris in third. Beloit also swept the top three spots in the 100 free with Leonard's 48.28 clocking, a mark less than a second shy of the program record, topping the competition.
George Carlson and
John Rose III followed closely behind respectively. The pattern continued in the 100 individual medley as Leonard took gold with a time of 57.43, Gaitor silver with a clocking of 58.03 and Morris registered a third place time of 1:01.59.
Carlson won a pair of events with gold in the 200 individual medley (2:16.26) and 100 breaststroke (1:08.75).
Max Saladar came into the wall second in the 200 IM while
Carson McDonald and Mason Mu combined with Carlson for the sweep in the 100 breaststroke. Gaitor's 55.53 was the top time in the 100 butterfly while
Matt Shea finished as the runner-up in the event.
Brandon Washburn owned the distance events winning the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:43.35 and the 500 freestyle with a clocking of 5:39.02. Shea captured second in both races.
Wil Kangas-Olson was the lone male diver at the meet tallying an 11-dive total of 425.85.
Both the of Buc men's relay squads were tops with Saladar, McDonald, Mu and Kangas-Olson combining for a time of 2:00.98 in the 200 medley relay and Morris, Rose III, Saladar and Washburn stopping the clock in 1:38.40 in the 200 freestyle relay.
Makenna Downing led the Buc women with two individual golds Saturday. Her 2:23.85 in the 200 freestyle was followed closely by
Gianna Perata in the runner-up position. Downing was clocked in 1:07.24 to win the 100 freestyle with teammates
Brooke Popkin and Shivangi Armbardar finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.
Anna Bunzel came into the wall first in the 100 individual medley with a time of 1:12.10 while
Ana Kohout finished fourth with a time of 2:26.66.
Padyn O'Keefe stopped the clock in 1:21.68 to take gold in the 100 breaststroke while
Michelle Stevens finished in second.
Bunzel added a runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke (1:10.36) and Perata was third in the 5000 free (6:29.18). Three Bucs placed in the 50 free with Stevens leading the way in second with a time of 30.72. O'Keefe was third and
Brooke Popkin fifth in the event. Off the one meter board, Elinore Kosack finished third with an 11-dive total of 267.95
In the relays, Beloit's combination of Bunzel, O'Keefe, Perata and Downing took gold in the 200 medley relay stopping the clock in 2:09.54. The Bucs foursome of Armbardar, Kohout, Popkin and Stevens was second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 2:38.76.
Up Next: The Midwest Conference Championships are next on the slate for the Bucs. The MWC Championships will be hosted by Grinnell College beginning Friday, February 14.
Homepage Image Credit: Angie Forrest
