LANCASTER, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's swimming team finished three days of competition at the 2024 Franklin & Marshall Invitational on Sunday with a seventh-place finish at the Kunkel Aquatic Center.
 
The Raiders had eight individual swimmers compete at finals and had nine total individual scoring performances on the day.
 
Sophomore Robbie Ferlick had the best finish for SU, taking fourth overall in the 100-yard freestyle. Ferlick used a 45.62-second swim in the morning to qualify for the championship "A" final and swam under 46 seconds again (45.93) to take fourth. Ferlick also improved his placement in the all-time top ten, moving from fourth up to second, only behind school record holder Ed LaNoue.
 
Sophomore Mason Koeth competed in the 'B' final of the 100 free, taking 12th overall by swimming a 46.44 second race. Koeth's prelims time (46.32) also saw improvement for his top ten placement, moving from eighth up to fourth.
 
Senior Nathan VanNatter rounded out the finalists in the 100 free, also competing with Koeth in the 'B' final and placing 15th with a time of 47.01, a 0.01 drop from his morning swim.
 
Graduate JC Greenwood was the lone Raider in the 1,650-yard freestyle, which was held as a timed finals event. Greenwood swam in the morning session and used a blazing 26.58 second last 50 split to finish the race at 17:02.05. After the top heat swam at finals, Greenwood took tenth place by virtue of his morning swim.
 
Junior Kevin Noldy qualified for the 200-yard backstroke 'B' final, swimming 2:00.52 to take 16th place. Sophomore Cooper Mercer raced in the "C" final before Noldy, taking 20th overall with a time of 2:01.66.
 
Freshman Kiran George represented the Raiders in the 200-yard breaststroke, swimming in the "C" final and taking 24th, touching the wall in 2:17.66.
 
Two Raiders qualified for finals in the 200-yard butterfly, the final individual race of the night and weekend. Freshman Alex Kissinger raced in the "B" final, pulling away from most of the field with a strong second 100 and taking 10th overall with a time of 1:55.43. Senior David Johnson competed right before, winning the "C" final and placing 17th overall with a time of 1:58.65.
 
The Raiders ended the weekend with a sixth and seventh place finish in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Koeth, Ferlick, VanNatter, and sophomore Connor Ludwig took sixth with a time of 3:06.08, while the team of senior Zaidian Van Orden, Freshman Josh Einolf, Johnson, and Noldy swam 3:08.65 to take seventh.
 
On the day, the Raiders garnered 13 total Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying standards.
 
Overall, SU amassed 35 PSAC standards, and advanced 28 total individual swims to finals. Additionally, the Raiders had six total top ten times in school history throughout the competition. The team scored 656 points to finish in seventh place in the standings for the weekend.
 
The Raiders will not compete over Thanksgiving, and will return to action Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6-7, at the Gettysburg Invitational.
 
1650 Free
10. JC Greenwood 17:02.05 (PSAC)
 
200 Back
16. Kevin Noldy 2:00.52 (1:59.98p) (PSAC)
20. Cooper Mercer 2:01.66 (2:01.09p) (PSAC)
 
100 Free
4. Robbie Ferlick 45.93 (45.62p) (PSAC)
12. Mason Koeth 46.44 (46.32p) (PSAC)
15. Nathan VanNatter 47.01 (47.02p) (PSAC)
Connor Ludwig 47.70 (PSAC)
Josh Einolf 47.84 (PSAC)
Zaidian Van Orden 48.28 (PSAC)
 
200 Breast
24. Kiran George 2:17.66 (2:15.92p) (PSAC)
Nate Wauls 2:16.08
 
200 Fly
10. Alex Kissinger 1:55.43 (1:55.80p) (PSAC)
17. David Johnson 1:58.65 (1:59.16p) (PSAC)
Zaidian Van Orden 2:02.59 (PSAC)
Luke Roettger 2:06.96
 
100 IM
No Entries
 
400 Free Relay
6. Mason Koeth, Robbie Ferlick, Nathan VanNatter, Connor Ludwig 3:06.08
7. Zaidian Van Orden, Josh Einolf, David Johnson, Kevin Noldy 3:08.65