Lions in fifth at halfway point of BMC Championships

FORT MILL, S.C. - The Mars Hill men's and women's swim teams sit in fifth place after two days of competition at the 2021 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships held in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

WOMEN

The Lions opened Thursday's action collecting 48 points in the 200 yard medley relay.  The quartet of Haley Horton, Ashley Hicks, Brianna Broussard, and Leah Hinsley turned in a time of 1:57.30

In the 50 yard freestyle, Elena Massa placed 16th overall with a time of 24.88, adding 11 points.  Sydney Hnatuk added six points to the Lions' totals turning in a time of 11:34.40 in the 1000 yard freestyle.  

Massa, Hinsley, Horton, and Sydney Gearhart capped off the opening day with a fifth place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:43.44, scoring an additional 50 points, closing out day one with 121 points.

On Friday, Broussard placed 16th overall in the 100 yard butterfly in 1:00.23 to net the Lions 11 points.  Massa placed 11th in the 200 yard freestyle to earn 16 points, turning in a time of 1:54.89.

Horton, Hicks, Broussard, and Gearhart ended the day with a fifth place finish in the 400 yard medley relay for 50 points in 4:10.50.

The Lions have accumulated 198 points, sitting 81 ahead of Catawba.

MEN

Through the first 10 events on Thursday, the Lions scored 124 points, ending the day in fifth place.

Kicking off their tournament, the team of Brendon Cyprianos, Matthew Goslin, Thomas Gibson, and Alex Bouhlel finished fifth in the 200 yard medley relay, nabbing 50 points in a time of 1:36.58.

Matthew Kowalczyk added five points in the 1000 yard freestyle, turning in a mark of 10:59.77.

Gibson placed 11th overall in the 50 yard freestyle, earning 16 points.  He swam a time of 20.90, however, in the preliminary round, Gibson broke the school record with a mark of 20.69 and recorded an NCAA B-Cut time.

Bouhlel, in the same race, placed 22nd overall, adding three points to the Lions' total.

A fifth place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay for the team of Gibson, Cyprianos, Bouhlel, and Goslin saw an additional 50 points secured as they turned in a time of 1:26.79.

Gibson, opening Friday's men's events, placed 17th in the 100 yard butterfly while Bouhlel placed 23rd.  The two combined for 11 points.

The same quartet from Thursday placed fifth in the 400 yard medley relay with a time of 3:30.27, adding 50 more points for the Lions.

At the halfway mark, the Lions sit in fifth with a total of 185 points.

To view Thursday's full list of results, please click here.

To view Friday's full list of results, please click here.

The Lions will wrap up the BMC Championships over the weekend.  A full recap of days three and four will be posted on Sunday.