LINCOLN, Neb. – Omaha men's and women's swimming & diving teams opened the 2021-22 slate with a meet at Nebraska Wesleyan Saturday morning. Both teams earned wins to start the season 1-0.
The Maverick men recorded the program's first win in program history with a 141-59 defeat of the Prairie Wolves. The women also cruised to a 150-42 victory.
"It felt so good to be back in the pool and compete," said head coach
Todd Samland. "It was fun to see the men and women competing so well to start the year. As a coaching staff, we are still figuring out which events people should swim and what other events have potential, so this was a great start to get a feel for some of that."
Omaha picked up first and second place finishes in the 200-medley relay for both the men and women races.
Annika Harthoorn,
Sadie Khalil, Grace Streblow, and
Caroline Dye finished first for the women with a time of 2:09.48, while
Luke Asbury,
Brandon Cheong,
Elijah Clements, and
Chas Nolte placed first for the men with a time of 1:39.64.
Morgan Baker,
Payton Easley, and
Olivia Wassink took the top three finishes in the women's 200-free, and
Pharis Musleh,
Owen Hoak, and Clements took the top three on the men's side of the 200-free.
In the 200-IM,
Hailey Matthews and
Isaac Fletcher notched their first first-place finishes for Omaha. Matthews swam a time of 2:10.74, while Fletcher finished with a time of 2:00.62.
Harthoorn tallied her second first place finish in the 50-free with a time of 25.18. Streblow and
Caroline Gardner trailed in second and third place. On the men's side,
Daniel Young swam a time of 21.11 to place first, while
Caleb Miller finished second.
The Mavericks swept the top three spots in the 100-fly in the women's event, while Asbury placed second on the men's side with a time of 53.24.
In the 100-free, Harthoorn recorded her third first place finish with a time of 54.94. Streblow and Hagemann rounded out the top-three. Clements recorded another top finish in the 100-free for the men with a time of 48.23. Cheong and
Logan Kempf finished second and third, respectively.
Rylee Trojan led Omaha in the 500-free. She placed first with a time of 5:21.04. In the men's race, Fletcher picked up a first place finish swimming a time of 4:53.97.
In the 200-free relay, the Omaha women took the top three finishes led by a team of Gardner, Hagemann, Wassink, and
Morgan Baker with a time of 1:41.40. The Maverick men's team of
Owen Hoak, Kempf,
Caleb Miller, and Clements placed first with a time of 1:28.38.
Lydia Johnston earned her first win with a 1:02.12 time in the 100-back, while Asbury tallied another top placement for the men with a time of 53.57.
A team of Baker, Wassink, Trojan, and
Carina Monroe earned a second place finish in the women's final event of the 400-free relay. They swam a time of 3:31.17. The men placed first with a time of 3:16.53 in the 400-free relay.
Ryan Korthals, Fletcher, Hoak, and Kempf were the team that capped the day with the win.
"My favorite part of today was seeing the way teammates were connecting with each other and with the coaches. It felt like we were all rowing the boat in the same direction, and I'm excited to see where the season takes us."
Omaha returns to action on Friday, Oct. 15 with a meet at Air Force. Start time is set for 6 p.m.
