On Saturday, Oct. 26, both the men’s and women’s swim teams took on the Susquehanna University River Hawks. This was the third meet of the season and the first one at home for the Blue Jays, which resulted in wins for both teams. They both remain undefeated in the 2024-25 season. 

The women opened up the meet by winning the first event, the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Kaylee Blair completed the opening leg while junior Emma Sabalaske and sophomore Megan Benson completed the middle legs. Senior Gracie Harding completed a strong closing leg and the Blue Jays were able to beat Susquehanna by almost ten seconds. Blair followed up the relay win by winning the 200-yard freestyle, and Harding brought home a win in a closely contested 50-yard freestyle. Continuing a win streak for the Jays, Sabalaske won the 200-yard individual medley, andBlair picked up her third victory of the day in the 100-yard butterfly. Harding also picked up a third victory in the 100-yard freestyle while junior Hailey Poulos won the final race for the women’s team in the 100-yard backstroke. By the end, the Blue Jays were able to win this nail biting meet 102-101.

“We knew it would be a close meet, but everyone showed up, swam hard and left it all in the pool,” Harding said. 

On the men’s side, junior Leif Hoffman and senior Josh McQueen finished first and second in the 1,000-yard freestyle for the men’s first win of the meet. Senior AJ West won the 200-yard freestyle and took home his second victory in the 100-yard butterfly. Senior Andy Hoch, junior Austin Smith and first-year Marco Nisosi took home the top three spots in a dominant 100-yard freestyle performance. Hoffman and McQueen finished first and second again in the 500-yard freestyle while first-year Barron Bishop and senior Connor Oswald finished first and second in the 100-yard breaststroke. The last event of the meet was the 200-yard freestyle relay featuring a team of Smith, Oswald, Nisosi and West in a close victory. Overall, the men had a decisive team win, scoring 119-86 over Susquehanna. 

Following the meet, Harding further described the Blue Jays efforts in this close meet.

“We had really high energy throughout the meet as it translated into our swims, which helped us come out on top,” Harding said.

Both team’s next meet is at Lycoming College on Nov. 9 at 1 p.m., where the Blue Jays will look to remain undefeated.