Swimming Heads to Cincinnati, Butler Invite for Pair of Weekend Meets

Friday, January 29

Cincinnati, Ohio

2 PM

Xavier University

Cincinnati

Swimming Heads to Cincinnati, Butler Invite for Pair of Weekend Meets

01.28.21 | Swimming

Musketeers swept Bellarmine in season opener

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier men's and women's swimming continue the 2021 spring schedule this weekend with a pair of meets, starting out the weekend by traveling across town to face Cincinnati on Friday, January 29 at 5:00 p.m. Following the meet with the Bearcats, the Musketeers will head to Fishers, Ind., on Sunday, January 31, to compete in the 12th Annual Butler Invite, set to begin at noon at Fishers High School. Xavier will compete against Ball State and Valparaiso on both sides, as well as the host Bulldogs on the women's side.

CINCINNATI NOTES

This is the first meet of 2021 for the Bearcats. Cincinnati swimming and diving's men finished runner-up at the 2020 American Athletic Conference Championship, with the title coming down to the final race. UC's women finished third at the conference meet.
Xavier faced Cincinnati last season, falling on both the men's and women's side.
The Musketeer women collected three first place finishes during last season's meet, including a win in the 100 back for Brooke Atkins and a pair of wins in the freestyle sprints for 2020 graduate Emily Conners.
The Xavier men collected a pair of event wins for Christian Thomas (50 free) and Jon Bernard (400 IM).

BUTLER INVITE NOTES

At last season's Butler Invite, Xavier's men claimed the top spot of six teams, earning a combined 745 points. On the men's side, last season's meet included Saint Louis, Ball State, Eastern Illinois, Youngstown State and Valparaiso.
The men combined for eight top individual finishes and 18 top-three finishes. Jon Bernard touched the wall first in three different events.
The women's squad earned a second-place finish, behind St. Louis with 746 points. Butler, Youngstown State, Eastern Illinois, Valparaiso and Ball State also competed at last year's event.
Xavier's women took the top spot in 10 different events throughout the day. Taylor Hogan had two top individual finishes. 2020 graduate Emily Conners had three, two relay and one individual.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier travels to Oxford, Ohio next weekend to face Miami (Ohio) in a dual meet, set for Saturday, February 6 at 1:00 p.m.

MEN LAST TIME OUT

In the season opener at Bellarmine, Jon Bernard, Davis Klein, Joey Mullen and Andrew Martin started the men out with a win in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:35.27.
Martin collected two more wins for Xavier, in the 200 free (1:43.19) and the 500 free (4:41.26).
Bernard also collected a pair of wins, in the 200 back with a time of 1:50.37, and the 200 IM with a time of 1:52.56.
Mullen led the Musketeers in a pair of individual races as well, finishing second in the 100 and 200 fly. Cameron Weese also collected a second-place finish to lead the Musketeers in the 200 breast.
Christian Thomas swept the freestyle sprints with times of 21.47 in the 50 free and 47.60 in the 100 free.
Daniel Stroh and Alex Sironen each also won individual events, the 1000 free and 100 back, respectively.
Martin, Thomas and Sironen were joined by Ethan Wing in the 400 free relay, setting a time of 3:10.74 to take the top spot.
Xavier's men won, 157-92, after winning 10 of 14 races.

WOMEN LAST TIME OUT

At Bellarmine, Kali Fischer, Lydia Schaeffer, Taylor Hogan and Clara Keiser opened up the meet with a time of 1:48.24 in the 200 medley relay to take first.
Keiser made two more trips to the top of the podium, sweeping the freestyle sprints, with times of 24.96 in the 50 free and 53.26 in the 100 free.
Fischer also collected an individual first place finish, taking the top spot in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.98.
Taylor Hogan swept the back stroke events with a 58.53 in the 100 and 2:09.42.
Newcomers Anna Voelkerding and Emily Guerrera each collected event wins in their first meet as Musketeers, winning the 200 fly and 200 breast, respectively.
Emma Kauffeld and Alison Herman each also touched the wall first in an individual event, with Kauffeld claiming the 500 free and Herman winning the 200 IM.
Delaney Sprague, Lorelei Gaertner and Schaeffer each led the Musketeers in individual races, the 1000 free, 100 fly and 100 breast, respectively.
Keiser, Fischer, Schaeffer and Maureen Cummins closed out the meet on the women's side with a win in the 400 free relay.
Xavier's women topped the Knights by a score of 164-94 after winning 11 of 14 races on the women's side.

XAVIER MEN

Xavier's men will look for a third-straight team BIG EAST Championship this season, with eight All-BIG EAST performers returning from last season.
Among Xavier's returnees are is freestyle distance specialist Andrew Martin, who led the Musketeers in individual points scored at last season's conference meet. During his rookie season, Martin took home the BIG EAST Championship in the 1,650 free with an NCAA B-Cut time, and collected a pair of second-place finishes in the 200 free and 500 free, posting school records in all three races.
Xavier also return all-conference performers Jon Bernard, Noah Coomler, Ben Quon, Jared Ritz, Will Serad, Alex Sironen and Christian Thomas.
Xavier added a pair of newcomers to the roster, Reed Harris and Jack Parker.
The Musketeers lost three members of last year's BIG EAST Championship squad to graduation, including two-time BIG EAST Champion in the 200 fly, Landon Clark, and Brandon Abboud, who earned All-BIG EAST in a team-leading five events last season.

XAVIER WOMEN

Xavier's women finished third at the 2020 BIG EAST Championships, collecting three first place finishes along the way.
Xavier returns seven All-Conference honorees, including the BIG EAST Champ in the 200 fly, Taylor Hogan.
All-BIG EAST Team members Brooke Atkins, Clare Bosse, Maureen Cummins, Lorelei Gaertner, Erin Merke and Lydia Schaeffer also return.
Xavier's roster is also bolstered by the addition of an eight-person incoming class on the women's side.
The Musketeers had five graduate following last season. Among the graduating class were four All-BIG EAST performers, including Emily Conners who led the Musketeers with all-conference performances in seven events last season, including the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free.