The Shippensburg University men’s swimming team finished three days of competition on Sunday with a fifth-place finish at the 2023 Franklin & Marshall Invitational held at the Kunkel Aquatic Center.
Freshman Robbie Ferlick capped the weekend for the Raiders with a ‘B’ final victory in the 100-yard freestyle, placing ninth with a time of 46.56 which ranked him seventh in school history. Ferlick would later drop that time with an impressive leadoff leg of 46.29 seconds in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the fastest opening leg of all relays. Ferlick’s leadoff leg moved him up into fourth place in school history.
Freshman Mason Koeth finished right behind Ferlick in the ‘B’ final, placing tenth with a time of 46.59. Koeth’s time ranks eighth in school history in the event, his fourth top ten ranking in school history achieved this weekend.
Junior Nathan VanNatter was the third Raider in the ‘B’ final of the 100 free, touching the wall in 47.80 for 16th place.
Finals began with junior David Johnson taking sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:45.37. Johnson stayed consistent with his splits, with 25 of his 33 splits (50-yards) staying under 31 seconds. Graduate JC Greenwood placed 13th with his swim coming in the morning, pacing a 17:16.05 that saw his last 50-yard split at 27.62, the third-fastest “final 50” split from the field.
Senior Michael Salvatori was the lone Raider in the 200-yard backstroke and represented well, taking second overall with a time of 1:52.85. Salvatori used a strong final 50 yards to pull away from third place, splitting 28.35 seconds that was the second-fastest final 50 yards of the evening.
Sophomore Nate Wauls competed in the ‘B’ final of the 200-yard breaststroke, taking 12th with a time of 2:12.49. Wauls dropped almost two seconds from his morning swim to finals.
In the final individual event of the evening, Johnson returned to take 14th place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.07. Junior Zaidian Van Orden and freshman Luke Roettger competed in the ‘C’ final of the event, with Van Orden winning the ‘C’ final with a time of 2:00.30, and Roettger taking 20th place, touching the wall in 2:03.29.
Freshman Cooper Mercer competed in the 100-yard IM in the morning, with his exhibition time of 54.77 ranking him seventh in school history.
The quartet of Ferlick, Koeth, freshman Connor Ludwig, and VanNatter ended the weekend with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:06.88.
Overall, the Raiders amassed 37 total Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying standards, advanced 31 total individual swims to finals, and achieved nine total top ten times in school history throughout the competition. The team scored 799 points to take fifth place in the standings for the weekend.
The Raiders will not compete over Thanksgiving and return to action Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2, at the Gettysburg Invitational.
1650 Free
6. David Johnson 16:45.37 (PSAC)
13. JC Greenwood 17:16.05 (PSAC)
23. Matthew Beard 18:05.11
Luke Roettger 18:31.79
200 Back
2. Michael Salvatori 1:52.85 (1:56.43p) (PSAC)
100 Free
9. Robbie Ferlick 46.56 (46.88p) (PSAC)
10. Mason Koeth 46.59 (47.08p) (PSAC)
16. Nathan VanNatter 47.80 (47.56p) (PSAC)
Connor Ludwig 48.17 (PSAC)
Zaidian Van Orden 48.41 (PSAC)
Kevin Noldy 48.53 (PSAC)
Matthew Beard 48.99 (PSAC)
JC Greenwood 49.63
200 Breast
12. Nate Wauls 2:12.49 (2:14.27p) (PSAC)
Cooper Mercer 2:20.81
200 Fly
14. David Johnson 2:01.07 (2:00.14p) (PSAC)
17. Zaidian Van Orden 2:00.30 (2:03.44p) (PSAC)
20. Luke Roettger 2:03.29 (2:03.35p) (PSAC)
100 IM
Cooper Mercer 54.77x
Robbie Ferlick 55.57x
Matthew Beard 55.73x
400 Free Relay
4. Robbie Ferlick, Mason Koeth, Connor Ludwig, Nathan VanNatter 3:06.88
Matthew Beard, Kevin Noldy, Cooper Mercer, David Johnson 3:17.22
