BALTIMORE, MD - Susquehanna Swimming placed multiple podium finishes on day three of the Landmark Conference Swimming and Diving championships on Saturday. The River Hawks competed in 11 of the thirteen scheduled events on the day, placing fourth place or better in three events.
Ashley Derrick had the best finish of the day for the River Hawks as she won a silver medal in the 100 yard backstroke. She improved on her prelim time of 59.66 to 59.40 in the event, with just less than two seconds separating her from Catholic's Tara Wiarda's time of 57.73. Derrick and the women kept their superb day going in the 200-yard freestyle relay, claiming bronze as Isabella Westerfield, Payton Kenney, Cameron Alvino, and Derrick beat out Scranton to get the third-place finish with a time of 1:40.77.
Two Susquehanna swimmers began the day competing in the women's 400 yard IM. Catherine Sirignano took fifth place in the event, showcasing an impressive time of 4:48.44. Mackenzie Moran showed a time of 5:01.74, which was good enough for 13th place on the day. The men's counterpart 400 yard IM showcased two River Hawks also. Timothy Wetmore and Kenny Smith competed in the event, taking 10th and 13th place, respectively, showing times of 4:26.89 and 4:43.79.
The men's 100 yard butterfly saw one River Hawk post a time of 53.45 in Dan Venuti's 10th-place finish. Following Venuti was Matilda Klinetob in the women's 200 yard freestyle, claiming 14th place and seeing a time of 2:04.33. Susquehanna's David Gentile began his day in the 200-yard freestyle, posting a time of 1:48.94, which was good enough for 10th place. Keegan Pence also competed in the event, getting 16th place with a time of 1:50.78.
The women's 100-yard breaststroke saw two River Hawks advance to the finals in Mackenzie Moran and Payton Kenney. Moran won 6th place in the event with a time of 1:08.92. Payton Kenney got 11th place, with her time being 1:10.79. The men's side also saw a slew of River Hawks competing. Akira Black got 11th place, seeing a time of 1:01.81, followed by Tim Wetmore in 13th place posting a time of 1:03.10. Joey Wayne was the final SU competitor to touch in as he came in 16th place with a time of 1:03.97.
A slew of other female River Hawks competed alongside Derrick, as Cameron Alvino got 12th place, with a time of 1:03.46. Megan Iannacone won 14th place followed by Hannah Nash claiming 16th. Iannacone posted a time of 1:05.37, Nash posting a time of 1:07.13. SU kept the momentum going as Brandon Sutherland qualified for the men's 100 yard backstroke, getting 11th place and a time of 56.24. Wrapping up the day was the men's 200 yard freestyle relay. Eskander Bierman, Dan Venuti, Akira Black, and David Gentile got the River Hawks final fourth place finish of the day, posting a time of 1:29.04.
SU heads into Sunday's final day of the Championships with the women in fourth place with 242 points and the men fifth with 171 points, separated from third-place Elizabethtown by 37 points. Their placements are consistent with their Pre-Championship rankings. The team is slotted to compete in 10 preliminary events, hoping to earn their way into the finals, as they compete for the final time during the 2024-2025 season.
