After participating solely in virtual meets last season, the Wolf Pack traveled north to compete against an NCAA DII opponent
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Loyola University New Orleans men's and women's swim teams competed against Ouachita Baptist University on Saturday in the first meet of the 2021-22 season.
Saturday was also the first in-person meet for the Wolf Pack since the NAIA National Championships in May of 2020 after last season was entirely virtual.
Ouachita Baptist, an NCAA DII school, claimed a 109-64 victory in the men's meet and won 121-83 in the women's meet.
Loyola started off the day with a triumph in the women's 400-yard medley relay. The relay team of Eve Thomas, Sophie Sierveld, Jenna Copes, and Anna Sitzman posted a time of 4:03.78 to win the event.
After the opening relays, the Wolf Pack would win four more events, all because of a strong freshman class.
Copes was responsible for two individual Loyola victories, starting with the women's 200-yard freestyle, which she won with a time of 1:58.66. Her second win came in the 100-yard butterfly after she swam a 59.09, which was less than a second off of a school record.
Emily Cooper won the women's 400-yard IM by almost four seconds with a time of 4:50.93. Then in the women's 500-yard free, Mya Baker placed first with a time of 5:26.24, finishing 15 seconds ahead of the competition. Baker swam both long distance races, finishing second in the 1,000-yard free after a time of 11:02.86.
Including Baker, Loyola had 11 individual second-place finishers between the men's and women's swim meets. Freshman Cameron Hinton accounted for two of those, and his time in the men's 1,000-yard free (10:21.34) was good enough for the second-fastest time in the event in Loyola history.
Next weekend, Loyola's men's and women's swim teams will face Millsaps College, an NCAA DIII school, in Jackson, Miss. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, October 30, at 11 a.m.
"The beginning of our season, like many other teams in New Orleans, has been one filled with obstacles and adversity. We have come together as a team, and have done an amazing job staying strong and training hard. The results of this meet show our resilience, and I feel it is just the start of great things to come. I am proud of each one of the swimmers as individuals, but even more proud of everyone united as a team."
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