11.13.1
SPORTS
Underdog swim team defeats Radford four swimmers short
Photo by Adrian Etheridge - Contributing Photographer
Sophomore Galen Broido swims the butterfly against Radford in Justice Center Pool last Friday.
Team dedicates victory to deceased coach, loses only three events
Ashika Raval
araval@unca.edu - Staff Writer
UNC Asheville’s women’s swim team
defeated Radford 135 to 125 at their first
home meet of the season .
In preparation for their meet agams
Radford the team got ready by racing
and swimming hard and by hitting the
weight room. With only 10 swimmers
this meet, due to injuries, the team had
to be very cautious and strategic about
where they placed each swimmer.
“We wanted to make sure we had
somebody in every event who we
thought could win the event, and we
won 11 out of 14 events, so I guess that
we did that pretty well,” said Elizabeth
Lykins head coach of the women s swim
team. , . .
“I know it’s a common coach thing to
say that everyone on the team contrib
uted but literally everyone on our team
scored points. Of the 10 swimmers you
get one point for fifth place and you get
Two points for fourth place, we got 16
points from either fourth or fifth place,
and that being said we only won the
meet by 10 points. So everyone contrib
uted,” said Lykins.
Some of the strongest swimmers this
meet were sophomores Galen Broido
and Alessandra Troncoso, as well as ju
nior Alice Emm, according to Lykins.
“Galen Broido won three individual
events, the 1,000 free, the 500 yard
free and the 400 yard individual med
ley. Alessandra Troncoso won the 100
breast, the 200 breast. Alice Emm has
some struggles that she’s working
through, but she did a great job and she
came in just when we needed her. She
won the 50 free, she swam the 100 fly,
and she was on both relays. So I would
say those three might have been our big
gest standouts,” Lykins said.
At the second break of the meet,
UNC A was on top at 113-111, with only
the 400 individual medley and 200 free
relay left. Broido successfully com
pleted the 400 individual medley in first
place at 4:40:92, gaining the Bulldogs
nine points. And with a time of 1:41:10,
Bulldogs Ashley Ireland, Alice Emm,
Kristen Lawson and Reid Jackso earned
11 points in the 200 free relay.
After their victory against Radford,
UNCA is now 3-3 in meets this season.
“This meet was huge for us. Last year
we beat Radford at conference champs,
but to beat them at a dual meet was such
a great feeling. Although I am not able
to swim because of an injury I still enjoy
being a part of one of the best families
on campus,” said Hallie Gillespie, a ju
nior at LfNCA.
Gillespie, a Raleigh native, joined the
team last year and made the CCSA All-
Academic team last spring. She is now
recovering from an injury.
“Watching the team race on Friday
was one of the highlights of my swim
ming career. I’m so proud of my team,
especially the freshmen who have been
such troopers. People don’t quite un
derstand the amount of time and effort
swimmers put in, they work out two or
three times a day, including Saturday
mornings and weekend meets. Swim
ming is not a just a sport, but a lifestyle,”
Gillespie said.
UNCA added swimming on campus
just a year ago and the team started hav
ing their first team practices last August.
“We call ourselves one year young, be
cause we are one year young and we are
already doing great things. We have won
a couple of dual meetings and winning
against Radford was a big milestone for
us. With it being our first home meet of
the season made it really important to us.
We had a great-crowd and I can’t thank
the fans enough, the pool deck was sur
rounded by people and there was a really
intimate feel,” Lykins said.
Last weekend was the team’s Think
Pink weekend, where they collected
money for breast cancer awareness.
They sold ribbons, shirts and more and
donated the money to Ladies Night Out.
a local charity that helps women who
can’t afford to get mammograms.
The meet was also dedicated to former
UNCA swim coach Betsy Montgomei-y,
who passed away last month in a car ac
cident.
“Betsy was the first coach ever at UNC
Asheville in the ‘70s and she was a huge
instrumental part of bringing swimming
into the Asheville ai'ea. It was four years,
but she was a huge influence. We took a
moment of silence to honor her for all
the swimming influence she had in the
entire community,” Lykins said.
The team’s next meet is Nov. 21
through Nov. 23, at Radford, competing
in the Highlander Invitational. The next
home meet will be Jan. 11 at 10 a.m.
against Georgia Southern.