HIRAM, Ohio - November 11, 2023 - It was a great afternoon for the Terriers swimming programs, with the men celebrating two seniors and the women honoring three seniors for their commitment to the program as part of Senior Day. 

Both teams went on to beat Bethany, 171-28 (men) and 144-73 (women), inside Alumni Memorial Pool on the campus of Hiram College.

On the men's side, Jacob Carleton and Gabe Farthing walked alongside their families prior to the meet in honor of their eight combined seasons with the program. Both swimmers rank among the top-15 student-athletes in program history in multiple events, with even more ground to gain for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

On the women's side, Elena Rinaldi, Moraine Jackson and Madelyn Sagle were announced as the team's senior class for this year. All three student-athletes have been with the program since the start of 2020-21, with each having impressive appearances at crucial mid-season and conference meets during their respective careers.

As for the meet itself, the men improved to 4-1 and the women now have a 3-2 record this season. The  programs are each on pace for record-breaking seasons, both for the individual swimmers and the collective teams as a whole.

Men's Recap

It was a smooth day for the men's team, with the entire roster getting involved and picking up victories. Owen Pastorius started it off in the 800-meter freestyle (9:57.06) and Nathan Ratynski followed suit in the 200-meter freestyle (2:32.77).

In the sprint events, Henry Hupp won the 50-meter backstroke (35.26), Dayne Sauter won the 50-meter breaststroke (33.17) and Landon Hughes won the 50-meter freestyle (27.89). Shortly thereafter, freshman Joe Krosky took down the 200-meter butterfly (2:39.35) and Jon Hybil dominated the 100-meter freestyle (1:00.40).

The first-year student-athletes continued to shine in the later stages of the meet, with Hupp placing first in the 200-meter backstroke (2:40.76), Adam Johnson taking down the 200-meter breaststroke (2:48.15) and 400-meter IM (5:18.92), and Sauter finishing his day in the individual events in the 400-meter freestyle (4:49.82). 

Hiram also won both the 200-meter medley relay (2:00.24) and 200-meter freestyle relay (1:54.26) to secure the win.

Women's Recap

Natalie Brown got the women's first victory of the day in the 800-meter freestyle, racing her way to a time of 11:20.90. Jackson continued the Senior Day celebration with a win in the 200-meter freestyle (2:34.01) before Rinaldi followed suit in the 50-meter backstroke (36.52).

Similar to the men's team, the first-year student-athletes on the women's team also had standout performances: Asa Frush won the 200-meter butterfly (3:19.40) and Haven Papineau won the 200-meter backstroke (2:49.98). Brown and Rinaldi would later return to their winning ways in the 400-meter freestyle (5:27.24) and 50-meter butterfly (33.84) respectively.

Frush finished one of her best days in the 400-meter IM (6:57.78) to give her team more than enough cushion to hold on for the victory. The 200-meter freestyle relay team of Brown, Papineau, Rinaldi and Jackson closed things out in the final women's event of the afternoon (2:08.06).

What's Next

Both teams will prep for the Malone Invitational next week, a three-day event from Thursday to Saturday on the campus of Division II Malone University. The mid-season event will be the last for the 2023 calendar year; Hiram will return to competition again on January 12, 2024 at Bethany.