November 22, 1997 - The Hounds knew that the odds were heavily stacked against them going into their meet with Colonial Athletic Association powerhouse William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. This was the same Tribe team that routed the men and women by scores of 163-134 and 165-120 respectively last season. With the intent of swimming fast times against strong competition, Loyola looked to steal some of the Tribe's thunder. Unfortunately, William and Mary pummeled Loyola, sweeping several events in the process. The women were defeated by a score of 142-94. The men fell by a margin of 152.5-87.5.
The Lady Hounds knew that it would be a long afternoon right from the start as all three William and Mary medley relay squads swept the Loyola relay teams.
The highlight of the meet for Loyola came in the next event, the 1000 yard freestyle. Freshman Brie Hawkins' time of 11:04.26 won the only race of the day for Loyola and shattered teammate Sarah Hewes' school record.
Sophomore Michelle Russo finished second in the 200 yard freestyle (2:01.52) and classmate Christine Gahagan took third in a tightly contested 50 yard freestyle (25.94).
The junior diving tandem of Kathleen Griffin and Marlow Perkins finished third and fourth respectively in both diving competitions.
However, William and Mary proved to be too much to handle as they swept the 400 yard I.M., the 100 yard free, the 100 yard butterfly, the 100 yard backstroke, the 500 yard free and the 100 yard backstroke.
The men began their meet with a thrilling 200 yard medley relay race. The team of Mark Gallagher, Tim Kelly, Ken Sposato and Ashley Loper dueled with the Tribe's A-relay squad down to the wire. Unfortunately, they were out-touched by 11 one-hundredths of a second.
Gallagher later won the 100 yard backstroke with a sparkling time of 53.32. "It doesn't matter, we still lost the meet," said Gallagher when asked about his swim. He also finished in a tie for second in the 50 yard free (21.88).
Sophomore John Moore was again in fierce competition in the 1000 and 500 yard freestyle events. He wound up with two second place finishes - swimming times of 10:09.24 in the 1000 and 4:51.91 in the 500.
Sposato swam a 54.12 in the 100 yard butterfly, taking third. Kelly finished in third in the 100 yard breastroke with a time of 1:02.25. Jon Lang finished in third place in the grueling 400 yard I.M. with a time of 4:27.01.
The diving team was well aware of the misfortunes of the swim team, so they needed to step up their performance in order to give the team an added boost. "We worked hard all week in preparation for the intense battle. And after seeing the five highly skilled William and Mary divers in warm-ups, we knew every little splash was going to count," said John Gunther. The senior due of Will Bryant and Gunther led the swimming and diving team in scoring by sweeping two events. After overcoming insurmountable odds, Bryant and Gunther were elated with their 1-2 finish. "It feels good to achieve unsuspected glory," said Bryant. Most impressed was diving coach, Steve Giangrandi: "Today the medal of honor goes to Bryant and Gunther."
In the end, the tribe had too much firepower, sweeping the 200 yard free, the 100 yard free and the 200 yard free relay.
The Hounds final meet of a semester is the Georgetown Invitational on December 5 and 6. There they will face the host Hoyas, MAAC foe Marist College, and the CAA's Colgate University.
Click here for men's times and results.
Click here for women's times and results.
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