Cailla Prisco
Sports Editor
The Keene State Swim and Dive season opened this past week against Colby Sawyer College where the Owls triumphed.
According to Keene State Athletics, The KSC men posted a 162-22 win, while the women won 176-47.
Not only did the Owls win by a landslide, but many owls placed first in several events, including junior Kyle Shadeck, first Year Sam Allo, senior Katie Brandeberry and junior Sophie Hayes.
Shadeck placed first in the 200 meter butterfly in 1:59.44 minutes as well as the 100 meter individual medley in 56.08 seconds.
Shadeck was was a part of the winning 200 medley relay team, along with AJ DelGiorno, Patrick Doyle and Tomas Langland, as well as the 800 free relay with Zach Payne, Jay Fritz and Michael Morman.
First-year and distance swimmer Sam Allo made his first appearance in a collegiate meet, and placed first in the 500 meter freestyle in 5.35.40 minutes and also placed first in the 1000 meter freestyle in 11.03.32 minutes.
For the Lady Owls, Brandeberry shined as she took home first place in the 100 free in 57.19 seconds and the 100 IM in 1:03.60 minutes, while swimming the anchor leg in both the winning 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay.
Hayes clinched first place in the 200 meter butterfly in 2.22.04 minutes.
As a junior, Hayes said she is, “Becoming more of a leader and mentor” since she is no longer an underclassman.
“I want to do things for the freshman and sophomores that make them feel like they are a part of the team, and guide them so they don’t make the same mistakes that I made,” said Hayes.
Senior and freestyle sprinter Lauren Arsenault said that, “This meet was a great start to the season, obviously we have only been in the pool for a few weeks so we aren’t going to be in the place we were at the end of last season, but everyone was in their target range of where they should be time-wise.”
Arsenault also said that after losing many seniors, they have gained talent in transfers and underclassmen:
“The team dynamic is a little different because we do have a lot of new swimmers, which is great. They are very talented and they can only improve from now, which is awesome for us to see because we lost a lot of seniors this past year.”
Not only does Keene State have new talent in swimming, but first year Brianna Feldman was awarded Little East Conference (LEC) Rookie Diver of the Week after making her debut in a collegiate meet.
The Owls will be on the road to Saint Michael’s College, Saturday October 20, for a 1 p.m. start time.
Cailla Prisco can be contacted
at cprisco@kscequinox.com
