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Shorthanded Falcons Drop Heartbreaker To Misericordia Men
Posted: 11/6/2009
Results | More Swimming news
Messiah's men's team dropped a heartbreaking 112-93 to Misericordia Friday night.

Grantham, PA — Facing a strong opponent in Misericordia University Friday evening, Messiah head coach Nancy Luley was simply hoping for marked improvement in her team’s second dual-meet of the young season.

Improvement, she received. Wins, she did not.

“This was a heartbreaker,” Luley said, “especially on the men’s side. Last year we lost to Misericordia by 70. This time around we dropped the decision by only 19 (112-93). On the women’s side, we lost 131-67, but we are facing some formidable opponents.”

Formidable indeed. The visiting Cougars women’s team captured the MAC team title last spring while the men’s team came in a very respectable third.

For Luley, what really hurt were the what ifs:

What if a few swimmers had recorded slightly better times? What if a few splits had been a bit stronger? What if she had enough male swimmers to fill out the full line-up?

What may sound a bit strange became reality as the flu bug continued to diminish the men’s line-up.

“We had to sacrifice some points in events because we couldn’t fill a line-up,” Luley said bluntly.

Despite the fact that the men were slim in their numbers, their fight was strong with those that were healthy in the pool.

Freshmen Dylan Holford recorded his second excellent meet in a row, coming off last Saturday’s season opener against Gettysburg. Holford won three individual events and set pool and team records in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.38) and 500-yard freestyle (4:57.15). Though no pool or team record was set in the 1,000-yard free, Holford turned in a winning time of 10:58.54.

In the 50-yard freestyle, the Falcons finished 2-3-4 with freshman Drew Wissler, sophomore Zachary McArdle and senior Anthony Addlelsberger turning in times of :22.71, :23.5 and :23.94, respectively. Wissler won the 100-yard freestyle in :50.02, more than two seconds ahead of his closest competitor. In one other event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Messiah topped the Cougars. Wissler, Addlelsberger, McArdle and senior John Haller combined for a 3:24.98 first-place time.

While the women’s team seemed to be overmatched as some Falcons were also kept out due to flu-like symptoms, freshman Molly Handley wasn’t deterred. Handley set a program record with a 1:07.22 in the 100-yard butterfly, good for third overall.

“With numbers being a little thin, we had to have our guys and girls step up and compete the best they could,” Luley said. “In some spots, we could do that but in others, we were simply up against a good opponent.”

Not being disappointed by the pure result, Luley said she is encouraged for what she sees.

“It is fun to see our upperclassmen – both men and women – light years ahead of where they were last year at this time,” she said. “The women are really just building. The men are getting there. I’m excited about where we’ll be as the season progresses.”

Despite dropping to 0-2 in dual meets for both the men and the women, Messiah will look to get back in action on Wednesday for their third straight home meet. The Falcons will host conference rival Elizabethtown College in a meet set to begin at 6 p.m.