Ballardin takes two individual firsts
ALLENDALE, Mich. – The #8 men’s swim and dive team fell 63-178 against the #4 Grand Valley State Lakers on the road today.
The Wildcats found 11 podium finishes today, including a pair of first-place finishes from freshman Matteo Ballardin, who swam back-to-back first-place races in the 200 IM and 200 fly before finishing with a silver in his final event, the 200 breast.
Gabriel Fulconi claimed silver in the 200 free, 200 free relay, and bronze in the 100 free. Diego Carrillo found the podium on both occasions, claiming silver in the 1-meter and bronze in the 3-meter, and both the 400 medley relay and 200 free relay finished in second.
The full list of results can be found here.
How It Happened
The meet kicked-off with the 400 medley relay, and it was the NMU A team of Ian Rocheleau (Back, 51.29), Andrew Tease (Breast, 56.11), Will LaCount (Fly, 49.33), and Daniel Khmara (Free, 45.00) claiming third with a time of 3:21.73, just 0.37 seconds behind second place. The NMU B team of Caleb Rice, Nick Metzler, Hudson Lowery, and Timothee Garin claimed fifth.
Garin, after just anchoring the NMU B relay team the event prior, got in the pool to compete in the 1000 free, where he claimed silver with his time of 9:26.07, as the 18-year-old freshman only lost to 21-year-old Raul Briceno of GVSU. Zachary Billotte also swam, finishing fifth.
Only two Wildcats competed in the 200 free, led by Gabriel Fulconi, who claimed an individual silver with a time of 1:40.00, just 0.58 seconds behind the first-place finisher. Bazil Massotte finished eighth at 1:47.11.
With no Leo Nolles swimming, it was LaCount who led the way for the ‘Cats, as he claimed bronze with a time of 20.75, just 0.03 seconds behind silver and 0.75 off of first. Max Swiatkowski claimed seventh, Liam Boomer 11th, and Hudson Lowery 13th.
The Wildcats got a first-place swim out of Matteo Ballardin, claiming gold in his first event of the afternoon, as he posted a time of 1:49.38 in the 200 IM, outing Jan Matejczuk of GVSU by 0.12 seconds. Ale Rosatelli claimed sixth at 1:58.05, and Metzler in eighth at 2:00.64.
Diego Carillo led the ‘Cats on the boards in the 1-meter, claiming silver with his score of 285.38. Travis Thornton finished fourth at 258.30, and Ryan Foucault eighth at 228.60.
The ‘Cats earned back-to-back gold medal finishes, as Ballardin swam a 1:49.54 in the 200 fly to finish first after standing atop the podium just one event prior in the 200 IM. Boomer and Hudson rounded out the ‘Cats in this event, finishing seventh and eighth.
After silver in the 200 free, Fulconi added a bronze to his ledger in the 100 free, posting a time of 45.93, just 0.13 seconds behind second place. Massotte and Rosatelli rounded out the ‘Cats in the event, finishing eighth and ninth.
Rice was the only Wildcat to swim the 200 back, where he posted a time of 1:57.78 to finish in fifth.
Garin and Billotte were the only two Wildcats to compete in the 500 free, with Garin finishing fourth at 4:38.49 and Billotte seventh with 4:46.27.
Carrillo was the only Wildcat to dive in the 3-meter, and he claimed bronze with his score of 242.70.
After a pair of gold medals earlier in the meet, Ballardin found the podium in his third event, this time taking home silver in the 200 breast with a time of 2:01.14. Metzler claimed fifth and Tease seventh to round out the ‘Cats.
The NMU A team of LaCount (21.04), Khmara (20.23), Massotte (21.23), and Fulconi (20.78) earned a silver medal in the 200 free relay thanks to their time of 1:23.28. The B team of Swiatkowski, Rosatelli, Boomer, and Rice finished fourth.
