QUINCY, Ill. - Quincy University men's swimming hosted Missouri S&T for its first home meet of the season on Saturday, competing in a hard-fought dual meet that ended with the Hawks falling 115-90.
Quincy collected several first-place finishes throughout the meet, highlighted by a record-book performance from freshman
Vaggelis Bouloukos in the 200-yard backstroke, along with strong efforts from Oliver Toledo Paniagua,
Emil Isaksen,
Harry Galloway, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team.
Bouloukos delivered one of the day's standout performances in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 1:53.14 to earn first place. The time also earned the freshman the sixth spot in the Quincy men's swimming record books, marking an impressive early milestone in his collegiate career.
Bouloukos' performance provided a highlight for the Hawks in their first home appearance of the season and established an exciting start to his time with the program.
Quincy continued to find success in the distance events, as Paniagua captured first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 9:57.32.
Paniagua also added a third-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, recording a time of 1:59.33 to contribute another strong result for Quincy.
Isaksen secured a first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, posting a time of 1:58.82.
Victor Abram also turned in a solid performance in the event, finishing third in 2:00.85 as Quincy placed two swimmers among the top three finishers.
Freshman Galloway added another first-place finish for the Hawks in the 200-yard butterfly, completing the race in 1:57.04. The result marked another encouraging performance from a first-year swimmer as Quincy continued to collect event wins.
The Hawks also came away with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of Galloway, Abram,
Ian Caballero, and
Lucca Arantes combined to finish in 1:27.85, securing first place for Quincy.
Arantes added another notable result in the individual events, placing second in the 200-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 1:46.02.
Brendan Worster also delivered a strong performance in the backstroke, finishing third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.74. Together, the Hawks' individual and relay performances provided several positive takeaways from their first home meet.
Although Quincy fell to Missouri S&T by a final score of 115-90, the Hawks recorded multiple event victories and several strong individual finishes.
"We had a fantastic meet and came the closest we ever have to a win against a Top 25 program in Missouri S&T. We didn't have every race go our way but are learning from our errors and growing a ton as a young team", said Coach Sez.
The Hawks will continue their season as they return to action on Friday, October 23rd at the University of Missouri St. Louis with a start time of 2:00 PM.
