Berry Swim Teams Finish Fourth at Colonel Classic

Berry College's men's and women's swim teams each saw swimmers shatter school records en route to fourth place finishes at the Centre College Colonel Classic in Danville, Ky., this Friday and Saturday.

The men scored 258 points and finished fourth out of eight teams, while the women were fourth out of seven teams with 250.8 points.

Conor Monaghan, Ruth Pappas and the women's 800 yard freestyle relay team all set new Berry records during the meet.

In one of three races in which he finished in first place, Monaghan broke the school record in the 200 yard individual medley, clocking a time of 2:00.89 to earn the victory. 

Pappas, who joined Berry's team at the semester break, wasted no time making her mark, finishing fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 19:06.93.

She was joined on the 800 yard freestyle relay team by KaitlinO'Brien, Julie Zimmerman and Rachel Sandoval, and the group combined to swim the event in 8:31.46, to finish second and clock the best time in team history.

Along with Monaghan's three first-place finishes, Graydon McCrite and David Lutomski also grabbed a first-place finish for Berry's men.

Monaghan won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:48.88 and the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 2:00.46.

McCrite brought home a win in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.41 seconds, and finished second in the 100-yard butterfly with a mark of 55.73 seconds.

Lutomski swam the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 55.59 seconds to earn the victory in that event.

Along with the school records set by the 800 yard freestly relay team and Pappas, the women's team's performance was highlighted by a pair of second-place performances by Rachel Sandoval. She swam the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 25.87 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle in 56.81 seconds.

"Everyone swam exceptionally well," Berry coach Paul Flinchbaugh said.  "I'm extremely pleased with the performances of all the swimmers at this point in the season.  After a hard training camp, I can see we are well prepared for the conference championship meet in February."

Berry continues its preparations for the conference meet this Friday and Saturday, when it hosts the Viking Classic at the Cage Center.

- BerryVikings.com -