After having experienced mixed results at the season opener at Coe last weekend, the Loras College swim teams came together at the Monmouth Invitational.

Both men and women came in second, each team beating out five other teams. With a variety of swimmers ranging from seniors to freshman, the Duhawks will use whatever weapons they need to in order to realize success.

On the women’s side, the Duhawks had only one, first place winner with junior Alex Proctor who won the 50y and 100y freestyles. But with numerous second and third place performances, the women reaped enough points to capture 2^nd overall.

“The girls swam really well at the Monmouth invite, we scored 2nd place with a lot of impressive swims from Alex Proctor who placed first, as well as Gabby Gaulke, Desiree Tmez and Evayn Roper who all scored high in the mile too,” said junior Stephanie Czarobski.

In addition to the mile, the women placed 2^nd or 3^rd in a total of 7 events. As one of the core leaders on the team, Steph has high hopes for the rest of the season, “We have a very strong team this year with a lot of talented freshman who will help us break at least two relay records this season.  We have a dual meet against Simpson this Friday, and then Grinnell on Saturday.  Both meets will present a challenge for the team, but we are expecting a lot of fast swims!”

On the men’s side, the story is very similar. The Duhawks came together to place top three in a total of ten events, giving them more than enough points to snag 2^nd place at the meet. Senior Andy Pape had a standout day, grabbing 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in the 50y, 200y, and 100y freestyles, respectively. With the Duhawks coming in top 3 in a majority of events, it is apparent that the roster is very deep this year, possessing a wealth of young and old talent.

The Duhawks have a busy schedule this upcoming weekend, and have high expectations once again.

Crystal Klein can be reached at Crystal.Klein@lctv13.com