The William Jewell Cardinal men and women’s swim teams returned to the Mabee Center Sat. Nov. 15. The team took on the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) Tritons and Lindenwood University Lions. The lions were ranked fourth in the nation in Division-II men’s swimming and ranked 12th in Division-II women’s swimming. The Cardinals beat the Tritons, but lost to the Lions.
On the women’s side, the Cardinals beat UMSL by a score of 212.00 to 26.00 but lost to Lindenwood 145.00-116.0.
“It definitely got our name out there,” Heather Cistola, sophomore, said. “We performed well and we are stronger off this year than we were at this time last year. To compete against nationally-ranked Lindenwood this strong, at this point in the year, is exciting.”
Cistola placed third in both the 800-meter freestyle and the 200-meter freestyle. She also placed fourth in the 400-meter freestyle. Her 400-meter freestyle team finished third.
“I was amped by my performance, but the team and I have lots to improve on,” Cistola said.
The men’s team defeated UMSL 197.00- 44.00, but fell short to Lindenwood 169.00- 93.00.
Ben Plank, senior, participated in his final home meet as a Cardinal swimmer.
“It was very exciting,” Plank said. “We performed well as a team and did what we had to do. After ten years of swimming it is exciting to see a team develop in-depth like this.”
Plank was one of the first swimmers at Jewell and said it is beneficial to have a bigger team [than his first year] that can compete at the level that they do. He hopes to make improvements both individually and as a team during his final stretch on the Hill.
“[This last home meet] is on the long list of ‘last experiences’ that I will have during this year. I am going to make the most out of my remaining time on the Hill and in the pool,” Plank said.
Throughout the course of the day, the Cardinals broke ten pool records. They won a combined eight races against the Lindenwood Lions.
Joao Pedro Granato, first-year, won the 800 meter freestyle, 200 meter freestyle and the 400 meter freestyle. He broke his own record for the 800 meter freestyle by nearly eight seconds; his time was 8:19.90.
Taylor Hunt, sophomore, won the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke. Ida Nyman, junior, won the 100 and 200 meter backstroke. Alex Millhuff, first-year, won her 100 meter freestyle narrowly by .22 seconds.
Both Granato and Nyman were selected as the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) athletes of the week for their performances Saturday. This is the first time that Jewell swimming has received recognition since last fall, when Matt Luton, senior, was selected by the conference.
“Granato is a stud, and he is such a joy to have on the team. He brings energy and life,” Plank said about Granato’s GLVC-award winning performance.
“Ida [Nyman] has put in a lot of hard work over her three years here at Jewell. She deserves this award for all of the work that she puts in. I am happy for her and I hope she can continue to find success throughout this season,” Cistola said.
Jewell swimming resumes Dec. 17 and 18, when they take Lewis University.