Men showing improvement, women with the weekend sweep

Friday, November 3

Phoenix, Ariz.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Air Force Academy

11/5/2017 5:38:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Men drop a close meet with Air Force, women defeat Idaho and Air Force

By: Nathan Okonek

PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon men's and women's swimming and diving team competed this past weekend in their first home meet of the season at Fr Edward J. Reese Aquatic Center at Brophy Catholic College Preparatory. The men's team was defeated 257-228 by the Air Force Academy after squaring off with the Falcons for a two day meet on Friday and Saturday afternoon. The women found themselves victorious for the fourth consecutive meet, defeating Air Force on Saturday with a final score of 142-101.

Despite trailing the Falcons following the completion of Friday's events, Head Coach Steve Schaffer had high hopes for his team going into Saturday, praising the Lopes divers for keeping Grand Canyon within reaching distance of the Falcons.

"Our guys are starting to hit their stride after a sluggish start, they competed well today," Schaffer said. "Our divers are a huge reason we are still reasonably close at the end of the first day."

Pietro Hufnagel Toscani found himself on top in both diving events. The sophomore diver from Sao Paulo, Brazil, took first in both the the 1-meter (296.03) and 3-meter (311.33) events. Sophomore Nick Benson (273.15) and senior Michael Winfrey (261.75) followed Hufnagel Toscani, by placing second and third in the 3-meter.

Another name you heard a hand full of times, was junior Mark Nikolaev. The Russian native finished first in three different events, by winning the 200 Yard Backstroke (1:49.17), 200 Yard IM (1:52.10) and contributing in the 400 Yard Medley Relay (3:17.01) with Youssef El Kamash, Daniil Antipov and Mazen El Kamash.

Day 2

The Lopes swam hard on day two of the men's meet vs Air Force. Coach Schaffer hoped to see much of the same success on Saturday, as he had seen the day before.

Pietro Hufnagel Toscani made a splash placing first back to back days in the 1-meter (315.15) and 3-meter (326.55) dives, beating his already commanding scores from the previous day.

Youssef El Kamash, Mark Nikolaev and Daniil Antipov stood out this weekend as well. Antipov, with the 'daily double', won both the 100 Yard Butterfly (48.68) and 200 Yard Freestyle (1:39.96). Nikolaev took first in the 400 Yard IM (4:01.35) and El Kamash won the 100 Yard Breaststroke (56.63) while all three helped contribute to a first place finish in the 200 Yard Medley Relay (1:28.82).

"We clearly have a lot of improving to do before the WAC Championships," Shaffer said. "But we have things moving in the right direction and for now improving is the most important thing."

The women's swimming and diving team showed toughness and grit following a Friday afternoon victory over Idaho by defeating the Air Force Academy 142-101 on Saturday.

"It was another excellent meet for our women today," Schaffer said. "They seem to be gaining confidence and getting better as a team every meet."

Estella Davis Ortiz took first in the 100 Yard Butterfly (56.59) and 100 Yard Backstroke (56.74) and contributed to the first place finish in the 200 Yard Medley Relay (1:44.23) with Diana Jaruseviciute, Samiha Mohsen and Alyssa Christianson.

In addition to the team victory in the 200 Yard Medley Relay, Christianson capped off a fantastic weekend, placing first in the 400 Yard IM (4:30.92) and the 100 Yard Breaststroke. Jaruseviciute finished first in the 100 Yard Freestyle (52.06) while Mohsen won the 50 Yard Freestyle (23.54).

Despite the Lopes not being able to sweep the weekend in the win column, Coach Schaffer was very proud of how his team competed against Air Force.

"This was a good way to end the weekend." Schaffer said. "Both the women and men really competed with a lot of heart, despite a tough week of training. I am very proud of how well they did."

The Lopes have this upcoming weekend off, but you can catch the men's and women's swimming and diving team back in action on November 17 and 18, as the swimmers head to Evanston, Illinois for the Northwestern TYR Invitational while the divers will head north to Flagstaff for the NAU Diving Invitational.