Swimming Heads to Oakland for Two-Day Meet to Open Spring Competition

Friday, January 12

Rochester, Mich.

5:00 PM / 10:00 AM

Xavier University

Oakland

Swimming Heads to Oakland for Two-Day Meet to Open Spring Competition

01.11.24 | Swimming

Musketeers and Golden Grizzlies get underway Friday at 5, return to pool Saturday at 10

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier men's and women's swimming opens up the spring 2024 schedule this weekend, traveling to Oakland for a two-day meet with the Golden Grizzlies. Events begin on Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Oakland Aquatic Center. Day two of the meet begins at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Xavier returns to the pool next weekend with a pair of meets, traveling to Cincinnati on Friday, Jan 19, set for a 3:00 p.m. start. The Musketeers return to the pool on Saturday, January 20, hosting Bellarmine for the Senior Celebration meet. Events begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Heidt Family Champions Center.

LAST TIME OUT - MEN

Three Musketeer men took part in the Almost Heaven LC Open, running Dec. 16-19, collecting four top five finishes in Championship finals.
Aiden Leamer swept the butterfly events at the meet, setting the top prelim time in the 100 meter fly at 54.47, then winning the Championship heat with a time of 54.83. He prelims time matched his personal-best time in the event, set at the Speedo Sectionals in Columbus in July 2023. Leamer also set the top qualifying time in the 200 meter fly, 2:04.77, then bested that time in the finals to take the top spot with a time of 2:04.25. Both times topped his personal-best time in the event of 2:05.23, set at the Speedo Sectionals in Columbus in July 2023.
Nathan Wall took part in three events at the meet, finishing fourth in the Championship final of the 200 meter breast with a time of 2:24.34.Wall placed fifth in the 200 meter IM, setting a time of 2:10.56 in the Championship heat after setting a time of 2:10.29 in the prelims. Both times bested his personal best in the 200 meter IM, 2:12.35, set at the Speedo Champions Series in Cleveland in 2019. Wall also set the third-fastest time in the prelims of the 400 meter IM at 4:46.67.
Brayden Mandacina took part in both breaststroke events, setting a time of 1:05.81 in the prelims of the 100 meter breast to earn a spot in the Championship final, where he placed sixth. In the 200 meter breast, Mandacina used a prelim time of 2:26.76 to make the finals, finishing sixth in the Championship heat.
The last full squad event was the CSU Magnus Cup in November, where the Musketeer men finished second to Cleveland State with 1418 points after three days of competition.
Luke Peterson won the men's 200 free with a time of 1:39.12 and also placed third in the A-Final of the 500 free with a time of 4:32.05.
Aiden Leamer took the top spot in the 200 fly, setting a time of 1:46.39. He also placed second in the 100 fly with a time of 47.84.
Jack Parker picked up a second-place finish in the 200 fly, and also led Xavier in the 100 IM with a third place finish in the A-Final, setting a time of 52.32.
Nathan Wall picked up a second place finishing in the 400 IM with a time of 3:57.19.
Matt Fralic placed second in the 50 back, setting a time of 23.38.
Ethan Saunders took third in the men's 100 breast, setting a time of 55.44.

LAST TIME OUT - WOMEN

Erin Ritz was one of four Musketeers who took part in the Almost Heaven LC Open, running Dec. 16-19. She competed in both butterfly events, posting a prelim time of 1:04.02 in the 100 meter fly to earn a spot in the Championship final. In the finals, she placed sixth with a time of 1:04.11. In the 200 meter fly, Ritz set a time of 2:25.21 in the prelims, the sixth best time overall. The time tops her previous personal-best time in the long course format of 2:33.49, set at the Niagara Long Course Championships in 2018.
The last full squad event was the CSU Magnus Cup in November, where the Xavier women placed seventh, collecting 550.5 points during the three-day meet.
Kali Fischer picked up three top-five finishes during the meet. During the first day, she set a time of 4:57.70 in the A-Final of the 500 free to place fifth. She also placed fourth in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.88 and placed fourth in the A-Final of the 200 back with a time of 2:00.65.
Olivia Oyster had a pair of top-five finishes, placing third in the A-Final of the 50 free with a time of 23.13 after setting a time of 23.00 in the prelims. She also finished fourth in the A-Final of the 100 free, setting a time of 50.98.
After besting her own school record in the prelims of the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.63, Jordyn Libler bested her mark again in finals, setting a new program record time of 1:02.51 to place fifth.
Alexis Worrall also competed in the A-Final of the 200 free, placing fifth.

XAVIER MEN

The Xavier men placed second at last season's BIG EAST meet, winning seven events with 10 Musketeers earning All-Conference, led by BIG EAST Most Outstanding Swimmer Andrew Martin.
The Musketeers return eight All-Conference performers who helped Xavier to seven event wins and a narrow second-place finish. Ethan Saunders led the returnees, earning All-BIG EAST in five events, and Matthew Adanin, Michael Benington, Gage Hannewyk, Kyle Hudson, Aiden Leamer, Jack Parker and Nathan Wall were also named to the all-conference team.
Xavier also returns an additional six letter winners from last year's squad.
The Musketeers added nine newcomers to the roster for the 2023-24 season.

XAVIER WOMEN

The Xavier women are coming off a fourth-place finish at last season's BIG EAST Championships, returning four Musketeers who earned All-BIG EAST honors, Kali Fischer, Erin Ritz, Olivia Oyster and Clara Keiser.
The women's roster included 15 letter winners from last season.
Xavier added six newcomers to the roster for the 2023-24 season.