Lopes host annual intrasquad meet

Saturday, October 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

8 A.M. / 4:30 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Purple vs. Black Intrasquad Meet

GCU Swim competes at the annual intrasquad meet.

10/2/2021 2:15:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

purple vs. black results Photo Gallery

Freshman duo wins 3 events for purple team

By: Chelsie Davidson

The Grand Canyon swimming and diving program competed in its annual Purple vs. Black intrasquad meet at Edward A. Reese Aquatic Center. The Saturday event consisted of 33 total events, with 29 swimming events and four diving events.

New assistant head coach Scott Trompeter led Team Purple to victory over associate head coach Chris O'Linger and Team Black by a score of 310-245.

The Lopes freshman duo of Aleksandra Wegrzynowska and Raphaela Nakashima won a trio of events to help lead Purple.

Wegrzynowska, a native of Wroclaw, Poland, claimed victories in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:59.05), 500 freestyle (5:15.97) and 200 butterfly (2:10.84).

Classmate Nakashima, hailing from Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed first in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.60), 200 breasstroke (2:24.29) and 200 individual medley (2:10.71).

Freshman Maria Chatzi claimed outstanding victories for Black. Chatzi won two individual events and contributed to a pair of relay wins. She took the 100 freestyle (52.43) with senior Olympian Emily Muteti coming in second, won the 200 freestyle (1:56.10) and contributed to the 200 medley relay (1:46.27) and 400 freestyle relay (3:36.46).

For the men, freshman Sam Jennings took the 200 breaststroke (1:53.24) over tough competition from Purple and claimed second in the 100 breasstroke (52.08), just seconds behind senior Mazen Shoukri.

Junior transfer Abigail Erickson and sophomore Isaac Poole won the 1- and 3-meter diving events to give Purple the win.

Freshman Shiori Bak placed second behind Erickson in the women's 1-meter dive for Black. Sophomore Nicholas Gunn finished second behind Poole for Purple.

This Lopes team will be a force to reckon with as it begins its 2021 campaign in the WAC.

"Today was a lot of fun and learning," GCU head coach Steve Schaffer said. "This meet was a chance for our new kids to get a sense for how NCAA dual meets work. Overall, this was without a doubt the best Purple vs. Black meet we have had. We are excited to get the season started. We have a lot of new athletes this year, and the meet gave us a chance to evaluate everyone as we get ready for the LSU meet next week."

Up next, the Lopes will head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, next Saturday to open their season against LSU.