The Shippensburg University men’s swimming team continued its week at the 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships on Thursday by competing in three individual events and two relays at the Graham Aquatic Center.
Junior Michael Salvatori (Springfield, Va./St. John Paul the Great) delivered an excellent time of 4:05.93 in the evening finals of the 400-yard individual medley (IM). It is a season best which resulted in a 10th-place finish. Salvatori improved from his morning preliminary time by 3.6 seconds, which had put him as the No. 13 overall seed entering the consolation ‘B’ final.
It is the second career Top 10 finish in the 400 IM for Salvatori, who won the event as a freshman in 2021. His season best was just 1.1 seconds off his collegiate best of 4:04.77, which keeps him ranked third in school history for the event.
Graduate Vin Salvatore (Howell, N.J./Howell) narrowly missed the consolation finals of the 400-yard IM, delivering a morning time of 4:11.37. Despite the setback, Salvatore finishes his career as a four-time scorer in the event – having placed 10th last year, fourth in 2021, sixth in 2020 and sixth in 2019. His PR of 4:08 has him ninth in school history in the event.
Salvatore was among a number of Raiders who shook off an adverse morning to deliver a solid performance at night. In the 400-yard medley relay, Salvatore delivered a career-best breaststroke split of 58.42 seconds as its second leg. Graduate Andrew Hale (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), Salvatore, senior Alec Burger (Elizabethtown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) and sophomore Zaidian Van Orden (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) delivered a time of 3:31.12.
Van Orden led the Raiders in the morning session of the 100-yard butterfly with a personal best time of 52.02 seconds, while Burger delivered a time of 52.18 seconds – just off his PR. The evening finals session opened with senior Elijah Zinn (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg Area), sophomore Nathan VanNatter (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts), Van Orden and Hale completing the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:26.49.
Hale delivered a strong 200-yard freestyle time of 1:43.79, just six-tenths of a second off his PR, but it was just short of qualifying for the finals after a fast morning of swimming in the event.
Shippensburg sits in sixth place through the first half of the conference championships.
Day begins at 10 a.m. Friday with prelims.
400 IM
10. Michael Salvatori 4:05.93 (4:09.58p)
Vin Salvatore 4:11.37
David Johnson 4:17.45
100 Fly
Zaidian Van Orden 52.02
Alec Burger 52.18
Matthew Beard 54.87
200 Free
Andrew Hale 1:43.79
Nathan VanNatter 1:46.13
JC Greenwood 1:46.64
David Bussard 1:48.67
Elijah Zinn 1:50.84
Tylor Yakaitis 1:52.47
200 Free Relay
7. Elijah Zinn, Nathan VanNatter, Zaidian Van Orden, Andrew Hale 1:26.49
400 Medley Relay
7. Andrew Hale, Vin Salvatore, Alec Burger, Zaidian Van Orden 3:31.12
