December 5-6, 1997 - (mens coverage only; women's coverage forthcoming; links to all times below)
Before returning home for the semester break, the Greyhounds had to compete in the two-day Georgetown Invitational on Dec. 5 and 6. Loyola's opponents included the Hoyas, Patriot Conference foe Colgate University and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference two-time defending men's champion Marist College. With this meet serving as the climax of the fall semester, the Hounds wanted to come out strong and garner three duel meet wins. The hounds already knew the held the upper hand on Georgetown whom they defeated earlier in the season. The true test would come from the Red Raiders of Colgate and the Red Foxes of Marist, who have desires for a three-peat in the MAAC. Despite courageous efforts by many on the team, the Hounds only managed a win versus Georgetown (192-141). The Red Raiders won their meet versus Loyola by a score of 191-143 and the Red Foxes took their meet by a 191-136 margin.
However, the meet did contain a landmark achievement, as senior Mark Gallagher surpassed David Griesbauer '92 to become Loyola's all-time leading point scorer. Gallagher placed first overall in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.12; thus earning him 27 points for three first place finishes (9 points each). In arguably his best event, the 100-yard backstroke, he took second overall (two first place finishes, one second) with a time of 53.76. Gallagher took fourth overall (one first place finish), swimming a time of 2:02.30 in the 200-yard backstroke.
Sophomore John Moore was Loyola's top scorer in the meet. His dominant swims were a solid indication that he will be a force to be reckoned with at MAAC championships in February. He won the 500-yard freestyle outright and in school record breaking fashion, swimming a 4:43.24. He followed that with a 1:43.73 in the 200-yard freestyle, earning him another 27 points for the three-meet sweep. His time was only six one-hundredths of a second off the school record, held by classmate, Vin Massey. Moore also took second place overall (two firsts, one second) in the 100-yard freestyle (48.46).
Finishing third on the team in scoring at the meet (behind Moore and Gallagher) was sophomore Ken Sposato. He dazzled everyone in the 50-yard freestyle, racing to a time of 21.94. This placed him second overall, a mere one one-hundredth behind the overall winner. Sposato also finished second overall in the 100-yard butterfly (54.90), allowing Gallagher and himself to "1-2" each of the other three teams. He finished third overall in the 100-yard breastroke (1:03.74). Senior teammate Tim Kelly placed second overall in that race (1:02.33) and gathered the fifth largest sum of points among the team over the weekend.
Senior Jon Lang wound up being fourth highest on the team in scoring. He placed third overall (one first, two seconds) in the 200-yard butterfly (2:05.99) and fifth overall (one first, two thirds) in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.00).
Loyola also excelled in the relay events, winning two of three relay competitions outright. The team of Gallagher, Kelly, Sposato and senior Ashley Loper won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:38.74. Kelly, Loper, Sposato and Gallagher won the 200-yard freestyle relay in a swift 1:28.22. Both relays came within mere tenths of seconds from setting school records.
With their scoring in the meets, Kelly and fellow senior David Raver joined Gallagher, Lang and Loper on the school's all-time top 25 scorer's list. This is certainly a sign of the legacy that the class of 1998 will leave behind on Loyola swimming.
The Greyhounds' men's record now stands at four wins and four losses.
NOTE: The times and results below contain only the scoring performances from each event.
vs. Georgetown University
Men: W 192-141
Women: L 131.5-191.5
vs. Marist College
Men: L 136-191
Women: L 126-209
vs. Colgate University
Men: L 143-191
Women: L 100-234
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