Sophomore Jack Baldoni (Applegate, Calif.) and freshman Austin Barnard (Mill Creek, Wash.) picked up event victories Friday afternoon, but Grand Canyon’s depth was too much to overcome as the Antelopes defeated Seattle University, 136-68, in a dual meet at the Southwest Valley Family YMCA.
Barnard, in his first collegiate race, cruised to victory in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:02.24, over 18 seconds ahead of anybody else in the race. The Redhawks completed a 1-2-3 sweep in the event, with Chris Weinert (Gresham, Ore.) finishing second in 10:20.83 and Nick Connors (Richland, Wash.) touching the wall in third place with a time of 10:22.96. Barnard also finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:50.11, followed by Weinert in fourth in 5:01.07 and Connors in fifth in 5:07.02.
Baldoni finished first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.25 seconds, followed by Alec Barnard (Everett, Wash.) in third place in 52.70 seconds and Michael Cox (Maple Valley, Wash.) in fifth place with a time of 53.22 seconds. Baldoni also joined with Morgan Montemayor (Seattle, Wash.), Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas), and Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) to lead the Redhawks to a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay in 3:30.09.
Schelling finished second in the 100 breaststroke by just 38/100ths of a second, posting a season-best time of 56.78 seconds, plus he matched last week’s mark in the 50 freestyle at 21.38 seconds. Mitchell Crossen (Puyallup, Wash.) finished third in both the 100 freestyle in 48.63 seconds and in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.81, while Montemayor picked up a third place finish in the 100 backstroke in 51.89 seconds. Crossen and Montemayor combined with Will Wertz (Richland, Wash.) and Cox for a third place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:15.84.
Seattle University (0-2) will face Grand Canyon in a rematch Saturday, Oct. 24, starting at 11 a.m.