The Shippensburg University men’s swimming team put forth a solid effort in its final home meet of the regular season as it faced off Friday night against Clarion at Donald N. Miller Pool.
How it happened
SU won three events on the night and compiled a sturdy 15 swims that satisfied the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying standard. Pacing the Raiders was graduate Andrew Hale (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), who impressed with victories in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke.
Hale’s first win came in the IM with a solid conference cut of 2:00.62. He swam with authority in the 200-yard breaststroke, the night’s final individual event, delivering a dominant victory in 2:08.62 that beat the field by more than 10 seconds.
Sophomore Zaidian Van Orden (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) touched the wall first in the 100-yard freestyle, winning the event in a PSAC-qualifying time of 49.00 seconds. Van Orden was the runner-up in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming another PSAC cut of 22.07 seconds.
Sophomore Nathan VanNatter (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) took third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.42 seconds and tied for third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:48.93 – both being conference cuts.
Graduate Vin Salvatore (Howell, N.J./Howell) also produced a conference cut in his final home meet, swimming the 200 IM in 2:02.59.
Sophomore David Johnson (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Bird) and junior Michael Salvatori (Springfield, Va./St. John Paul the Great) recorded PSAC cuts in the 1,000-yard freestyle with respective times of 10:26.90 and 10:27.17. Salvatori also had a solid effort in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing second in a conference cut of 1:59.08.
Before the meet, SU honored Alec Burger (Elizabethtown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), David Bussard (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin), JC Greenwood (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area (Penn State)), Michael Hannig (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown), Tylor Yakaitis (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) and Elijah Zinn (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg Area).
Bussard placed third in the 200-yard backstroke with a PSAC cut of 2:02.33. Greenwood was the runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle with a PSAC cut of 1:48.24. Hannig, Hale, Salvatore and Zinn teamed up for a second-place time in the 200-yard medley that opened the meet in 1:37.01.
Yakaitis impressed by posting the fastest time in two exhibition heats, swimming the 50-yard freestyle in 22.69 seconds for a conference cut and touching the wall in the 100-yard freestyle in 52.55 seconds. Zinn met the league standard in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.60 seconds.
Van Orden, junior Matthew Beard (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area), Zinn and VanNatter finished second in the meet-concluding 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:28.37.
The Golden Eagles claimed the dual meet, 122.5-82.5.
Up next
Shippensburg will now train and taper for its important mid-season invitational meets. SU will travel in two weeks to Lancaster to compete in the three-day Franklin & Marshall Invitational.
Times
200 Medley Relay
2. Michael Hannig, Andrew Hale, Vin Salvatore, Elijah Zinn 1:37.01
David Bussard, Nate Wauls, Alec Burger, Tylor Yakaitis 1:42.11
1000 Free
3. David Johnson 10:26.90 (PSAC)
Michael Salvatori 10:27.17 (PSAC)
David Bussard 10:56.43
200 Free
2. JC Greenwood 1:48.24 (PSAC)
T3. Nathan VanNatter 1:48.93 (PSAC)
David Johnson 1:55.08
50 Free
2. Zaidian Van Orden 22.07 (PSAC)
3. Elijah Zinn 22.60 (PSAC)
Tylor Yakaitis 22.69 (PSAC)
Kevin Noldy 22.94
200 IM
1. Andrew Hale 2:00.62 (PSAC)
3. Vin Salvatore 2:02.59 (PSAC)
Michael Salvatori 2:03.81
200 Fly
Matthew Beard 2:14.57
Nate Wauls 2:15.70
Alec Burger 2:24.59
100 Free
1. Zaidian Van Orden 49.00 (PSAC)
3. Nathan VanNatter 49.42 (PSAC)
Kevin Noldy 51.38
Tylor Yakaitis 52.55
200 Back
2. Michael Salvatori 1:59.08 (PSAC)
3. David Bussard 2:02.33 (PSAC)
Michael Hannig 2:05.39
500 Free
2. JC Greenwood 4:59.49 (PSAC)
David Johnson 5:08.74
200 Breast
1. Andrew Hale 2:08.62 (PSAC)
3. Vin Salvatore 2:19.33
Nate Wauls 2:26.33
Jason Chatell 2:42.19
200 Free Relay
2. Zaidian Van Orden, Matthew Beard, Elijah Zinn, Nathan VanNatter 1:28.37
Tylor Yakaitis, Kevin Noldy, Alec Burger, JC Greenwood 1:33.53
