Ballardin earns three individual and one relay gold medals at the meet
HOLLAND, Mich. — Day three from the GLIAC Championships for the men’s swim and dive teams saw more gold and another record broken.
Matteo Ballardin continued his hot run of form, capturing his third individual gold medal and breaking his second GLIAC record of the tournament in the 200 fly. His time of 1:44.63 was also a DIIA time.
To end the night, Ballardin was the leadoff racer for the 800 free relay team that featured Daniel Khmara, Gabriel Fulconi, and Alessandro Rosatelli. The team was ahead by a hair for a majority of the race, but needed an exceptional final 200 from Rosatelli to fend off chasing Grand Valley State. Rosatelli was able to close out the race, leading NMU to a gold to end the evening.
Among the medalists was Andrew Tease, who earned bronze in the 100 breast, his second medal of these championships.
The ‘Cats remained in third place, amassing 406 team points, behind Grand Valley State (654) and Wayne State (492), while ahead of St. Cloud (355.5), Saginaw Valley (320), Davenport (239), Augustana (203.5), and Lake State (112).
The final day of the GLIAC Championships are Monday, February 9, with the final prelim session beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
Running Medal Count
Day 1
200 Medley – Bronze (Rocheleau, Tease, LaCount, Nolles)
200 IM – Gold and Bronze (Ballardin and Rosatelli)
50 free – Gold (Nolles)
1-meter diving – Bronze (Stiles)
200 free relay – Silver (LaCount, Fulconi, Leroux, Nolles)
Day 2
100 Fly – Silver (Nolles)
400 IM – Gold, GLIAC Record (Ballardin)
Day 3
100 Breast – Bronze (Tease)
200 Fly – Gold, GLIAC Record (Ballardin)
800 Free Relay – Gold (Ballardin, Khmara, Fulconi, Rosatelli)
How It Happened
The B final of the 500 free saw the trio of Zachary Billotte and Alessandro Rosatelli compete, where in their heat they finished third at 4:34.23 and sixth at 4:36.04.
Ian Rocheleau was the lone Wildcat representative in the 100 back, competing in the B final and finishing fifth in the heat at 49.60.
Andrew Tease, who earned a spot into the championship heat of the 100 breast as the fifth seed, moved up two spots to earn an individual medal, finishing third with a time of 54.17.
Liam Boomer entered the pool first as the Wildcat representative in the B final of the 200 fly, where he finished eighth in the heat with a time of 1:53.42. Matteo Ballardin and Rafael Schaub competed in the championships, seeds two and eight from this morning, and swam in lanes five and eight. Ballardin swam another record-breaking race, earning gold and setting a GLIAC championship record with his time of 1:44.63. Rafael Schaub finished seventh at 1:50.30.
Tobie Stiles just missed a spot on the podium, finishing fourth at 482.80. Diego Carillo (437.45), Travis Thornton (431.15), and Ryan Foucault (399.95) finished 13th, 14th, and 15th.
The evening ended on an exciting note, as the 800 free relay team of Ballardin, Khmara, Fulconi, and Rosatelli battled to earn gold. The ‘Cats were third at the first exchange, first by a tenth of a second at the halfway point, and pulled ahead by a hair into the final exchange. Rosatelli had to swim the race of his life, fending off GVSU the whole way to earn an emphatic gold medal for his team.
Morning Session
Alessandro Rosatelli, Timothee Garin, and Zachary Billotte will all represent NMU in the B final of the 500 free as the 14, 15, and 16 seeds.
Ian Rocheleau will be the lone Wildcat representative in the 100 back, where he will compete in the B final of the 100 back as the 11th seed.
Andrew Tease will compete in the championship heat of the 100 breast, entering the evening as the fifth seed. Gabriel Fulconi is the second alternate, posting the 18th quickest time.
Matteo Ballardin and Rafael Schaub will both compete in the championship heat of the 200 fly, as Ballardin will enter as the second seed and Schaub as the eighth seed. Liam Boomer will swim as the 14th seed in the B final, and Hudson Lowery will be on call as the first alternate.
The finals begin at 5:30 p.m. ET, and fans can catch all the action on Flo Swimming and the Meet Mobile app.
How It Happened
The morning kicked off with five heats of the 500 free, an event that saw three Wildcats compete in the distance event. Alessandro Rosatelli and Timothee Garin competed in heat three, finishing fourth and fifth at 4:34.15 and 4:35.18. Zachary Billotte swam in lane one in heat four, finishing fifth in his heat at 4:36.46.
The men’s 100 back featured six heats, and it was Bazil Massotte who was the first representative for the Green and Gold, featuring in heat two. Massotte finished third in his heat with a time of 52.20, good enough for fourth overall at the time of completion. Ian Rocheleau, Max Swiatkowski, and Caleb Rice swam in heat four, where the trio finished with times of 49.20, 51.35, and 51.80.
Gabriel Fulconi featured in heat one of five of the 100 breast, where he was the second-fastest swimmer at 57.12. Andrew Tease took to the pool in heat four, where he won his heat at 55.00 to post the second-quickest prelim time.
The 200 fly featured four heats, with the first Wildcat swimmers coming as Hudson Lowery and Liam Boomer in lanes two and seven of heat three. Boomer and Lowery finished fifth and seventh with times of 1:53.32 and 1:57.48. Matteo Ballardin and Rafael Schaub competed in the final heat, where Ballardin would finish first at 1:48.38 and Schaub fourth at 1:50.90.
Jef Leroux (19.95) and Youssef Nahali (20.04) swam 50 free time trials.
