Ballardin, Garin, Fulconi top Wildcat point scorers
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — The #8 men’s swim and #10 diving teams wrapped up the Calvin invite on Saturday.
The team finished third with 1305 points, behind Grand Valley with 2247 points and Calvin with 1443 points.
Matteo Ballardin led the team with 96 points over the weekend, highlighted by a gold medal in the 200 fly today, followed by Timothee Garin (68), Gabriel Fulconi (67), Ian Rocheleau (64), and Andrew Tease (62).
The full meet results will be found here when made available.
How It Happened – Evening Finals
The meet started with a mixed swimming of the 1650 freestyle before kicking off the full-female and full-male races. Zachary Billotte was the lone NMU representative in the ‘second’ heat, touching the wall second in his heat at 16:29.88. Timothee Garin was the lone ‘Cat to swim in the final heat, entering the finals with the third-fastest entry time. Garin would finish third with his finals time of 15:30.64.
The Wildcats were represented by Ian Rocheleau (1:49.44) and Caleb Rice (1:54.97) in the A final of the 200 back, where they placed fourth and eighth, respectively. Max Swiatkowski was the lone ‘Cat in the B final, posting a time of 1:55.36 to finish eleventh.
Daniel Khmara and Gabriel Fulconi swam in the A final of the 100 free, where the duo posted times of 44.92 and 45.31 to finish fifth and eighth, respectively. Youssef Nahali was the lone representative in the B final, finishing 13th at 46.24, and Bazil Massotte posted a time of 46.90 to finish 25th.
The ‘Cats had two representatives in the top four in the 200 breast, led by Andrew Tease (2:01.35) in second place, followed by Alessandro Rosatelli (2:02.81) in fourth. Nick Metzler (2:06.00) also swam in the A final, finishing sixth.
Matteo Ballardin claimed gold in the 200 fly, posting a time of 1:45.48 to beat GVSU’s Gaebler by nearly two seconds, and Hudson Lowery (1:53.23) and Liam Boomer (1:55.16) claimed gold and silver in the B finals.
Tobie Stiles paced the field in the 1-meter diving prelims, posting a score of 471.55 to enter the evening with the top score. Diego Carrillo (438.30) and Travis Thornton (436.70) entered the evening at fourth and fifth, and Ryan Foucault (390.10) in seventh. The finals results will be updated once made available.
The 400 free relay capped off the weekend, and the NMU A relay claimed third with a time of 2:55.51. The NMU B relay finished seventh at 3:02.61, and the NMU C relay finished 13th at 3:08.70
How It Happened – Morning Prelims
The 100 back saw three heats of 22 swimmers vying for qualifying times for the top finals this evening. Ian Rocheleau (1:49.11) and Caleb Rice (1:53.35) both swam in the second heat and earned spots in the A finals, finishing fourth and eighth, respectively. Max Swiatkowski is the lone Wildcat representative in the B finals, as he finished 13th.
100 Free saw Bazil Massotte finish 27th to swim in the D final, Youssef Nahali and Daniel Khmara finish 14th and 9th so swim in the B final, and Gabriel Fulconi and Jef Leroux finish 8th and 7th so swim in the A final.
The 200 breast will feature three ‘Cats in the A finals, as Nick Metzler finished 8th, 6th Alessandro Rosatelli 6th, and Andrew Tease posted the top time to claim the first spot in the A final.
Matteo Ballardin led the ‘Cats in a field of 35 swimmers in the 200 fly, posting a time of 1:51.14 in the final heat and earning the second-seeded time heading into the evening finals. Liam Boomer (1:54.53) and Hudson Lowery (1:56.10) earned the top-two spots in the B finals, finishing 9th and 10th, respectively.
