CHICAGO – The Lewis women's swimming team picked up four event wins at the University of Chicago Triangular meet on Friday evening. The Flyers defeated Olivet Nazarene 146-135 but lost to Chicago 203-91.
Stephanie Palczynski (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton Warrenville South High School) and
Ebony McCray (Avondale, AZ/Agua Fria High School) each won two events to pace Lewis. Palczynski won the 100 and 200 yard backstrokes while McCray took first in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
The Flyers had three finishers in the top five of the 100 backstroke. Palczynski touched the wall at 58.73 while
Gabby Jeffers (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) finished second at 59.80 and
Meghan Beese (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South) took fifth in a time of 1:03.46.
McCray won the 50 free by nearly a second over Chicago's Melinda Tang. Jeffers took third in the event in a time of 25.32 seconds while
Daniela Navarrete (Panama City, Panama) took fifth with a time of 25.65 and
Morgan Lagestee (Munster, Ind./Munster) finished eighth at 26.96.
Palczynski won the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:07.09 over a full second ahead of second place. Jeffers finished fourth touching the wall at 2:16.91 and Beese was seventh in a time of 2:21.81.
McCray edged out Tang in the 100 fly by .02 of a second. McCray touched the wall at 58.13 while Tang came in at 58.15. McCray trailed by over half a second at the turn but swam the final 50 yards in a time of 30.15 to overtake Tang. Ianthe Van Der Westhuizen and Navarrete took seventh and eighth respectively.
The Lewis relay team of McCray, Van Der Westhuizen, Beese and Palczynski took second in the 400 yard freestyle with a time of 3:41.88. Palczynski,
Hannah Zuercher (Lincoln, Neb./Pius X), McCray and Navarette took third in the 400 yard medley relay touching the wall at 4:03.35.
Van Der Westhuizen took third in the 1000 freestyle touching the wall at 11:11.57 while Maria Rodriguez and
Taylor Vera (Wyoming, Mich./Grand Rapids Catholic Central) took fifth and sixth respectively in the event.
Meghan Bower finished third in the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:16.26 while
Emily Pickett (Surprise, Ariz./Willow Canyon) finished sixth in a time of 2:17.87.
The Flyers are back in action next Friday (Jan. 25) hosting Lincoln College at 5 p.m.
