ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Green Bay Swimming and Diving teams kicked the 2022-23 season off at St. Thomas Friday afternoon. 
 
Caitlyn Greenwalt took first in the 1-meter in her first collegiate duel meet. 
 
Miles Rohrbaugh had a steady performance throughout the meet, starting his fifth campaign with the Phoenix. 
 
Andy Groebner had one of his best collegiate performances on the 1-meter, taking second on the 1-meter. 
 
"I am very happy with the way our first meet turned out for the divers," said diving coach Tom Stover. "We certainly got to see some exceptional dives but of course, we also found things we will need to work on. All in all, a pretty good outcome for the Phoenix divers."
 
The Phoenix started the meet out hot with a victory in the Women's and Men's 200 Medley Relay. For the women, Esther Oswald, Faith Eilertson, Alli Misialek, and McKenna Metropulos took home the victory. On the men's side, Jeremiah Mansavage, Sebastian Smolecki, Max Kasal, and Ethan Braatz touched the wall first.
 
The women's distance followed up the relays with a 1,2,4 punch in the 1000 Freestyle. Alexa Kelly dominated from start to finish while Grace Morgan and Rialey Anderson chased down the competition for 2nd and 4th. 
 
"Alexa Kelly really had one of her better meets in her collegiate career tonight," head coach Alex Lewis said. "From dominating the 1000 Free to just squeezing out a win in the 200 Butterfly. I'm so proud of her performance."
 
The men also showed they were ready to go the distance with John Burnard touching first in the 1000, with Ramiro Diaz and Jack DeMarco taking third and fourth.
 
The men followed up their performance with a great showing in the 200 Freestyle led by freshman Nico Losinski with a winning time of 1:44.53. 
 
The 100 back followed with a one-two finish from Mansavage (51.52) and Calvin Kremer (52.11). Eli Zimmerman finished fourth with a time of 53.38.
 
The women had another first-place finish from Kelly in the 200 Butterfly. Just beating out second place by .20 with a winning time of 2:13.55.
 
The sprinters got in on the action with two wins back-to-back from McKenna Metropulos in the 50 Free (24.40) and 100 Freestyle (53.75). Kaleigh Gale touched the wall second in the 100 Freestyle with a 55.50. 
 
In the men's 50 freestyle, Senior Jeremiah Mansavage hit the wall first with a blistering time of 21.31, just ahead of freshman Ethan Braatz who touched second with a 21.72.
 
In the men's 100 Freestyle, freshman Max Kasal had a dominant performance, touching 46.96. Braatz touched fourth with a 48.86.
 
The 200 Backstroke was another event where the Phoenix touched first in both genders with Esther Oswald winning the event on the women's side at 2:11.80. While the men grabbed the top four spots with Junior Calvin Kremer claiming the event, freshman Eli Zimmerman just behind him, junior Sebastian Smolecki finishing third, and freshman Jonathan Schluesche touching fourth. 
 
The freshman class continued its coming out party with Alex Smolecki touching first in the 200 Breaststroke, and freshman Simon Seel finishing third. 
 
The Phoenix distance swimmers came back with wins in the 500 Freestyle with Katherine Fisher touching first for the women and John Burnard touching first for the men. Both races had third-place finishes from newcomers Isabelle Houseman and Losinski.
 
Rafe Dolan Peterson got in on the action late with a victory in the 100 Butterfly at 53.35. 
 
Sebastian Smolecki finished first in the 200 IM with a 1:56.66. 
 
The Phoenix women entered the final relay tied but took second place with a final time of 1:40.71. 
 
The men capped off a dominant meet with a victory in the 200 Freestyle relay with a time of 1:25.15. 
 
Swimmer of the Meet for the Phoenix was John Burnard who took first in the 1000 Freestyle, 200 Butterfly, and 500 Freestyle. 
 
"John is one of those athletes that will do anything you ask. Those are the athletes that thrive in the college environment because they just have the drive to be the best," Lewis continued. "An incredible lineup for John Burnard this weekend, swimming three of the toughest races in one meet with hardly any warm-down. It really speaks to the job he's done so far this season."

UP NEXT
The Phoenix has a weekend off next weekend before traveling to Milwaukee to compete in the Wisconsin Showcase on Saturday, October 22 at 1 p.m.

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