Lopes finish season on high note at CSCAA

Thursday, March 9

Elkhart, Ind.

Grand Canyon

CSCAA National Invitational Championships

3/12/2023 7:30:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Martinez Moreno wins 200 butterly; Rom takes 2nd in 200 breakstroke while Muteti gets 3rd in 100 freestyle

By: Nathan Peters

ELKHART, Ind. –The Grand Canyon men's and women's swimming team closed out the season with a strong performance on the final session Saturday night at the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America's National Invitational Championships.

The GCU women finished with their highest team ranking in program history, taking eighth out of 57 with a score of 325 points. The Lope men placed seventh among 41 teams, scoring 374.50 points.

The Lopes were led by three podium finishers in graduate student Emily Muteti, freshman Paula Martinez Moreno and freshman Jonathan Rom.

Muteti took third in the women's 100-yard freestyle by going 49.46 seconds in the final.

Martinez Moreno went 1:58.76 in the 200 butterfly, earning the Lopes a first-place finish in the A final.

Rom had a time of 1:55.65 in the 200 breaststroke final to claim second.

For Lopes seniors Griffin McKean, Adrian Curbelo, and Muteti, this was likely their last competitive swim with their GCU caps.

McKean went out as the highest-scoring individual for the Lopes men (including relays).

On the women's side, Muteti finished as the highest scoring individual for the Lopes and fourth overall in the women's championships.

Grand Canyon will miss the seniors, but the team is young and the culture is at an all-time high. The Lopes will hope to continue the growth during this offseason and prepare for next season with higher goals.

Full meet results can be found here.

Day 2

The Grand Canyon swimmers are utilizing mental strength to continue strong positioning in both sections of the CSCAA National Invitational Championships.

After each team competed in WAC Championships within the last couple weeks, the Lopes are battling mentally and physically.

GCU began the evening finals' session with the men's 200-yard medley relay going 1 minute, 29.47 seconds. The team included Alex Volkov, Carter Dooling, Adrian Curbelo and Sam Wittmer. The Lopes contributed crucial points which have helped contribute to the current top-10 team score.

For the Lopes women, Briana Rittenbach, Raphaela Nakashima, Paula Martinez Moreno and Emily Muteti took sixth place after having a time of 1:40.82.

In the B final of the men's 400 individual medley, senior Griffin McKean went 3:52.29 to take second.

Eli Cohen went 47.47 in the B final of the men's 100 butterfly while Curbelo went 47.59, claiming 12th and 14th, respecitvely, to again add valuable team points.

With Martinez Moreno and Muteti both qualifying for the A final in the women's 100 butterfly, the Lopes placed fifth and eighth out of 20 finalists.

Jonathan Rom went 54.01 in the men's 100 breaststroke.

Perhaps the best time of the evening for the Lopes came from Volkov in the 100 backstroke, where the freshman posted a personal best of 47.34 to take fourth.

An unusual 800 men's relay squad of Cohen, McKean, Vitaly Kostin and Ian Shultz went 6:29.76 to take fourth in the final event of the night for GCU.

Full results from Friday can be found here.

With two days down, Saturday is the final day of competition in Indiana.

Day 1

The Lopes conclude the first night of the CSCAA National Invitational Championship by proving they are ready to compete with the likes of the power five schools.

The competition has 51 women's team and 41 men's teams in attendance with over 100 athletes competing from schools all over the United States.

After a decent preliminary morning, the evening finals session began with the Lopes placing eight in the men's 200 yard freestyle relay. The team included Alex Volkov, Eli Cohen, Adrian Curbelo, and Sam Wittmer and went 1 minute 21.07 seconds. This relay final included 39 other teams.

The women's 200 freestyle made up of Emily Muteti, Maria Chatzi, Briana Rittenbach, and Maria Brunlehner went 1:32.01 to secure fourth amongst some impressive power five schools. Texas Christian, Ohio state, Tennessee, and Purdue each finished below GCU. 54 other universities competed in the event.

Less than ten minutes after the relay, Rittenbach competed in the individual 50 backstroke where she placed 9^th in the A final. The senior went 25.43 seconds.

After a week of no swimming due to being sick, senior Curbelo swam took fourth in the B final while Volkov took fifth which landed the men's team so very valuable points.

Muteti went 24.64 in the women's 50 freestyle A final.

Griffin McKean had a time of 1:47.70 in the men's 200 individual medley to place sixth in the A final.

The men closed the night on a high note with a strong 400 medley relay placing fifth. The team of Volkov, Jonathan Rom, Curbelo, and Eli Cohen went 3:13.98.

The women placed 11 out of 54 in the 400 medley relay. Rittenbach and Brunlehner added to their busy nights contributing important opening and closing legs to the team which also included Raphaela Nakashima and Paula Martinez Moreno. They touched in at 3:43.30.

At the end of the night session the Lopes men sit in 10^th with 103 points while the women are positioned in 9^th with 117 points.

The action will continue Friday with preliminaries taking place in the morning session.

Full results from Thursday can be found here.