by Joe DiBlasi The Loyola Aqua Dons, under coach Keith Schertle, won their third National Catholic Swimming Championship, at Villanova University this weekend, besting second-place Gonzaga by 72.5 points.
Loyola swimmers qualified for the finals in 15 events and the Dons won the 200 yard freestyle, 200 individual medley, 100 yard fly and 500 yard freestyle.
Evan Danz was first in the 50 yard freestyle and Sean Roddy tied for first in the 100 yard breaststroke. They also won the 200 yard medley relay, with Greg Pelton, Hugh Davison, Roddy and Danz manning the effort. This group broke a 73-year old event record with a time of 1:36.02, which qualified all four members for automatic All-American status.
Loyola easily had more guys in consols/finals than any other team in the meet including three freshmen Oliver Bennett 100 free and 100 back, Aaron Jones 50 free and 100 free and Alex Porter 200 free and 500 free.
Schertle was named "The Coach of the Meet", which included 25 teams from all over the country. This Friday his swimmers will take on Calvert Hall at the Blakefield pool, as Schertle goes for his 14th consecutive MIAA Swimming title.
The team:
Evan Danz, Maurice Carpenter, Tyler Thein, Oliver Bennett, Adam Shaw, Alex Fuller, Aaron JOnes, Tyler Elfert, Hugh Davison, Ryan Leonard, Greg Pelton, Sean Riddy, Matt Marquez, Alex Porter, Chris Schubert,Cole Lindner and Charlie Waesche.