GCU Swims Past Seattle U

Saturday, October 25

Seattle, WA

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

139

Seattle U (Swimmers)

Stanislav Saiko

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

10/25/2014 3:32:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Men, Women Outduel Redhawks for Second Consecutive Day

For the second consecutive day, the Grand Canyon University men's and women's swimming teams downed Seattle U at the Connolly Center Pool in Seattle, Wash. The women came out on top, 118-86, with the men finishing with 139 points to Seattle U's 65 on Saturday.

"Another very good day for us," said head swimming coach Steve Schaffer. "We set four more pool records today and the kids did a pretty good job of bouncing back and being ready to swim after a late finish last night."

Stanislav Saiko took home first in the 200-fly, posting a time of 1:51.81 in the event. Saiko notched his second top finish of the day in the 500-free, finishing in first with a time of 4:42.43.

Iegor Lytvenok swam to a pool record time of 1:49.15 in the 200-IM, taking home first in the event. He then set his second pool record of the day and third of the weekend when he took first in the 200-backstroke (1:48.69). The junior set the pool record in the 400-IM during Friday's dual. Illya Glazunov won the 100-free, touching the wall with a time of 45.34 seconds, breaking his own pool record that he set on Friday night.

Mantas Auruskevicius placed second in the 200-breaststroke, as the freshman swam to a time of 2:06.96 in the event. Aslan Burbayev came in third in the same event, finishing with a time of 2:07.70.

"Our men showed a lot of character after getting into a bit of a hole when the 200-medley relay was DQ'd, and the first couple of free events didn't go our way, but everyone stepped up to finish the meet strong and come away with the win," said Schaffer.

"Our women had the meet pretty much in hand from start to finish and raced very well," added Schaffer. "It is great to see them continue to make big improvements over the last year."

Hannah Kastigar tallied three more first-place finishes to her impressive 2014 resume, finishing with the fastest time in the 200-IM (2:05.76), 200-fly (2:01.57) and the 500-free (5:01.66).

Iryna Glavnyk's time of 2:00.79 in the 200-backstroke was the fastest of the day, giving her a first in the race. Not only was Glavnyk's time the fastest recorded time in the WAC in the 200-backstroke this season, but it is also a new pool record.

In the 100-free it was Canyon finishing in the two through four positions, with Celine Schoemans (55.06 seconds) taking second, Marina Fonseca (55.43 seconds) third, and Jade Howard (55.49 seconds) fourth. Joana Ulyte (1:56.51) and Petya Dimova (1:59.47) finished second and third in the 200-free, respectively.

Glavnyk, Daria Talanova, Rebecca Coan and Jovanna Koens combined to swim to the fastest time in the 200-medley relay, accumulating a time of 1:46.38 in the relay.

GCU swept the 200-free relays, as the quartet of Koens, Schoemans, Katrina Kroening, and Glavnyk finished first on the women's side and Mazen Elkamash, Alexandr Dmitriyenko, Jacob Lambros, and Tanner Brotherton brought home first on the men's side. The men's time is the second-fastest time recorded in the conference this season in the relay.

"We have our toughest dual meet challenge of the fall coming up when we travel to the Air Force Academy," said Schaffer. "They are a very well-coached team and have been swimming very well in the early season, and it's very tough to travel up to 7,000 feet. It will be interesting to see how we handle the challenge."

The Lopes will be back in the pool Nov. 8 when they travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for a dual with Air Force Academy. Fans can find more information on the swimming and diving season at www.gculopes.com.

Saturday's results can be viewed here.