Acadia swim team finishes third in combined team standings at Kemp Fry Meet

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Acadia's Axewomen and Axemen Swimming finished in third place in the combined team standings after three days of competition at the Kemp Fry Invitational hosted by Dalhousie University November 26th-28th. The Dalhousie Tigers finished first in the overall team standings with 2201 points, while Memorial came second in the standings with 1178.5 points, just out-scoring Acadia with 1175.5 points. The Axewomen finished third to second place Memorial and first place Dalhousie, while the Axemen finished second to Dalhousie.

The day 3 finals session of the Kemp Fry Invitational included finals in the men's and women's 200 metre butterfly, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre freestyle, 200 metre Individual Medley, 100 metre backstroke, 200 metre breaststroke, 50 metre butterfly, and 400 metre freestyle. The men's and women's 400 medley relay was the final event of the weekend. 

Aideen Nelson of Corner Brook, Newfoundland opened the night for Acadia coming fourth in the women's 200 metre butterfly in a time of 2:29.77, behind Memorial's Heidi Perry who won in 2:23.62. Shane Kenny of Bathurst, NB, took second on the men's side for Acadia in 2:06.26 to the Tigers' Freddy Chandler-Baas in 2:05.91, while Acadia's Marcus Vaillancourt of Quispamsis, NB, was fifth in 2:12.84. 

Abbey Corish was the winner in the women's 50 metre breaststroke in 32.57. Acadia's Kali Lancaster was third in 34.03, Sarah MacDougall of Bedford was eighth in 35.74, and Ally Bennett of Georgetown, ON, was 12th in 37.24. Adam Bouma was the winner on the men's side, with Acadia's Gordon Shortt of Simcoe, ON, placing second in 28.87. Acadia's Aubrey Landry of Dartmouth was fourth in 30.20 and Robert Kennedy was 16th in 38.15.

The Tigers' Martine Nyhof took the win in the women's 100 metre freestyle in 56.77, while Acadia's Grace Earle of Halifax was second in 58.89. Kassidy Hamilton and Elisabeth Morrison, both of Fredericton, were seventh and eighth in 100.25 and 1:01.54 respectively, while Lia Lancaster of Victoria, BC, was 12th in 1:02.17. In the men's race, Noah Mascoll-Gomes was the winner in 49.76, while Acadia's Dean Sangster of Truro was second in 50.71. Bo Stokesbury-Price of West Brooklyn, NS, took fourth for Acadia in 52.02, Daeton Pitre of Bathurst was seventh in 52.99, Reilly Baker of Toronto was tenth in 53.39, and Aubrey Landry of Dartmouth was 16th in 56.71.

In the women's 200 metre Individual Medley race, Emilie Schofield took the win in 2:21.41, while Acadia's Cali Bruce of Coal Harbour was fourth in 2:32.33. 

Acadia's Elyott Chang of Calgary was third in the men's race in 2:10.16 to Memorial's Matty Whelan, who took the win in 2:06.51.

Martine Nyhof was the winner in the women's 100 metre backstroke in 1:03.30. Acadia's Jessica Pelletier of Fredericton was second in 1:03.87, Grace Earle was fourth in 1:05.07, and Ally Bennett of Georgetown was 16th in 1:10.88. Christian Payne took the men's win in 53.88, while Acadia's Dean Sangster was second in 56.24, Aaron Day of New Glasgow was fourth in 57.66, and Owen Landry of Dartmouth was 12th in 1:03.74.

In the women's 200 metre breaststroke, Victoria MacDonald was the winner in 2:40.88 to Acadia's Kali Lancaster in second in 2:42.18. Adam Bouma from Dalhousie won the men's race in 2:18.83 to Acadia's Gordon Shortt in second in 2:23.52. Acadia's Aubrey Landry was sixth in 2:30.58, Elyott Chang was ninth in 2:28.85, and Robert Kennedy was 11th in 3:02.42.

The Tigers' Lauren Mosher won the women's 50 metre butterfly in 28.45, while Acadia's Kassidy Hamilton took third place in 28.66, Cali Brace was fourth in 29.59, and Aideen Nelson was ninth in 29.34. Shane Kenny captured the men's win in 24.44, while Marcus Vaillancourt was fifth in 26.19. Kenny's time was just behind his record-setting performance from day 1 in 23.99, a time which also secured him a spot on the fastest all-time 25 Canadians in history. 

Reagan Crowell from Dalhousie captured her third win of the meet in the women's 400 metre freestyle in a time of 4:20.69. Acadia's Maddie Murray of Burlington, ON, was 7th in 4:47.42. In the men's race, Bo Stokesbury-Price was fourth in 4:07.10 to Dalhousie's Logan Sparkes in 3:55.65, while Lucas Perkins of Ottawa was 14th in 4:25.98.

The Tigers' team of Martine Nyhof, Abbey Corish, Veronica Hollick, and Reagan Crowell took home the win in the women's 4 x 100 metre medley relay in a time of 4:19.11, while the Axewomen's team of Jessica Pelletier, Ally Bennett, Cali Bruce, and Lia Lancaster were seventh in 4:39.56. 

The Axemen's team of Dean Sangster, Gordon Shortt, Shane Kenny, and Bo Stokesbury-Price picked up a second-place finish in the final event of the evening, the men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay, in a time of 3:47.61, behind the Tigers who took the win in 3:44.04, with Memorial touching third in 3:57.41.38. Acadia's team of Aaron Day, Aubrey Landry, Marcus Vaillancourt, and Daeton Pitre were fourth in 3:57.33.

Third-year swimmer and assistant coach Sadie McAlear was extremely proud of the team for both their performance and overall attitude at the meet. "I am so proud of the team," McAlear said following the completion of the meet. "The culture of positivity the team created over the weekend was incredible, and the amount of best times (approximately 75% according to Head Coach Kris Bell) that were achieved is amazing. I am so looking forward to the team competing at the AUS Championships in February."

Team Standings:

MEN

1. Dalhousie – 1084

2. Acadia – 687.5

5. Memorial – 524.5

4. Mount Allison – 278

3. UNB – 252

WOMEN

1. Dalhousie – 1117

2. Memorial – 654

3. Acadia – 488

5. UNB - 351

4. Mount Allison – 232

COMBINED

1. Dalhousie – 2201

2. Memorial – 1178.5

3. Acadia – 1175.5

5. UNB - 603

4. Mount Allison – 510

Axemen and Axewomen swimming will return to competition on January 15th and 16th for the AUS Invitational hosted by Dalhousie.