GCU Men Win Second Dual at North Dakota

Saturday, January 11

Grand Forks, ND

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

169.00

125.00

North Dakota

Hannah Kastigar won five individual events over two days in North Dakota

1/11/2014 2:46:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Men, women combine to take first in 22 of 28 swimming events today

The Grand Canyon University men's and women's swim teams today completed the last of their two dual meets against North Dakota at the Hyslop Sports Center in Grand Forks, N.D. For the second straight day, the Antelopes men were victorious in their dual, as they also remained perfect on the season, with a 169.00-125.00 win. The women were narrowly outdueled by UND 154.00-140.00.

The two GCU teams combined for 22 first place finishes in 28 swimming events today.

"For the men, it was a good way to close out the dual meet portion of the season and remain undefeated," said head coach Steve Schaffer. "The pool records provided some nice motivation for our guys. Breaking the 22-year old pool record in the 400 medley relay was fun. Iegor and our men's 200 free relay made runs at the pool records as well, but came up just a bit short. For as tired as the guys are from the training right now, they were still able to put up some good times."

"The women did a great job of competing and actually outscored UND in the swimming events, but they just came up a bit short in trying to overcome the 32-point diving advantage," Schaffer explained. "We had a shot to win today, but I give credit to the UND women. They raced very well today and were able to keep us from being able to manufacture the extra points we needed."

Yesterday, the women defeated UND by a score of 124.00-113.00, while the men won 129.00-107.00. Hannah Kastigar, who had two individual wins yesterday, picked up three more to bring her weekend total to five to lead the GCU women. Iegor Lytvenok had four individual wins over the two days of action against UND.

The GCU relay teams started off the second dual in the same manner as yesterday, taking first in both the men's and women's 400-medley relay. The men, behind swims of Lytvenok, Aslan Burbayev, Ivan Nechunaev, and Illya Glazunov won by nearly 10 seconds en route to setting a new pool record with a time of 3:16.92. That time also stands as the fourth-fastest in the WAC this season.

The women's squad of Kastigar, Kathleen Robertson, Rebecca Coan, and Jovanna Koens posted a time of 3:56.01 to win the event.

Following up on her win in the 1650-free yesterday, Inha Kotsur posted a victory in the 1000-free with a time of 10:33.27, the eighth-best mark in the conference. On the men's side, Adam Kastigar was victorious after clocking in at 9:59.46.

Jacob Lambros won the men's 200-free after touching the wall in 1:41.36.

The 'Lopes swept the top-three spots in the men's 100-back, led by Everton Kida's first place finish with a time of 51.19. Nechunaev (51.25) and John Feely (51.74) both finished within a second of their teammate to round out the top-three in the event.

Kastigar added to her individual win total after claiming the top spot in the women's 200-fly and 200-back with times of 2:02.07 and 2:04.30, respectively. Her 200-fly time is the fourth-fastest among WAC swimmers and just .19 off the pool record as the freshman already owns the fastest mark in the conference at 1:58.06. Her 200-back mark is the 10^th-best in the conference.

GCU also took second and third in the 200-fly, with Coan (2:10.50) and Diana Volk (2:11.68) rounding out the top-three.

In the same event on the men's side, Stanislav Saiko touched the wall first in 1:53.65.

Koens bettered her 50-free time from yesterday to take first once again, this time in 23.93 seconds, the 10^th-best in the WAC. She added another win in the 100-free with a time of 52.05 seconds.

Glazunov was the winner in the men's 50-free, clocking in at 20.58 seconds, the 10^th-fastest mark among conference swimmers, while Lytvenok won the 100-yard distance in 44.87 seconds. That time also stands as the 10^th-best in the WAC.

Feely and Kida went 1-2 in the men's 200-back with times of 1:54.79 and 1:56.31, respectively.

Kotsur picked up her second individual victory of the day in the women's 500-free after touching the wall in 5:09.74. Saiko also won his second individual event with a first-place finish in men's 500-free, clocking in at 4:37.66.

Hannah Peseau and Coan took first and second in the women's 100-fly and were separated by just .47 seconds with times of 58.53 and 59.00 seconds, respectively. On the men's side, GCU had another 1-2-3 finish with Nechunaev leading the way at 48.49 seconds, the sixth-best mark in the conference. The sophomore holds the top time in the WAC so far this season at 47.50 seconds.

Alexandr Dmitriyenko clocked in at 50.69 seconds, followed by Tanner Brotherton at 51.78 seconds.

Kastigar rounded out her individual events today with her third victory, this time in the 200-IM with a time of 2:05.43, the fifth-fastest among WAC swimmers.

Lytvenok added his second individual win of the day in the men's 200-IM after touching the wall in 1:49.58, the sixth-best in the conference. He owns the best mark among WAC swimmers so far this season with his time of 1:45.85.

Catherine Polito, Samantha Magnani, Coan, and Koens teamed to win the women's 200-free relay with a time of 1:37.03, the eighth-best among relay squads in the WAC. GCU owns the top WAC time in the event this season at 1:33.29.

Ending the meet on a high note, the 'Lopes men won the 200-free relay with a time of 1:21.30 behind the swims of Nechunaev, Dmitriyenko, Michael Branning, and Glazunov. That time stands as the fourth-best among WAC relay squads and missed the pool record by just .22 seconds.

The 'Lopes will next be in action when the women welcome New Mexico State and Northern Arizona to the Brophy Sports Complex in Phoenix on Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. for their last home meet of the season. The men will hold an intrasquad scrimmage at the same location. Fans can find a complete recap and results by visiting www.gculopes.com.

Click here results from today's dual meets