CLEVELAND, Miss. – William Carey swimming is officially up and running as they competed in their first ever meet this afternoon, taking part in the Magnolia Invite hosted by Delta State at the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatics Center.
 
The Crusaders went 2-1 on both the men's and women's side at the Magnolia Invite. The men's team knocked off Millsaps College 161-42 and Meridian Community College 163-9 and fell to Delta State 185-62. The women knocked off Millsaps 103-95 and Meridian C.C. 115-35 and dropped to Delta State 203-32.
 
There was an air of nervousness, eagerness, and excitement as Carey prepared to take the pool for their first ever meet. Despite being a few swimmers down, both teams gave great accounts of themselves and left with much anticipation as to what they can achieve not just this season, but in the years to come.
 
It did not take long for the men to get their first win of the day, and of the program, as in just the third race of the day, Braedan Jacobs would take home first place in the 1000-yard freestyle. Jacobs took the win with a time of 9:47.67. Janos Szabo recorded the second win of the day with a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.71.
 
Szabo and Jacobs added to their first-place finishes with a couple of second place finishes. Szabo picked up second in the 100-yard butterfly and Jacobs in the 500-yard freestyle. Reid Granger added another second-place finish with his performance in the 200-yard backstroke.
 
The men finished out the meet with 5 third place finishes and all eight swimmers placing in the top three of an event. The first men's race of the day saw the first third place finish of the day. Hunter Boudreau, Millen Fehr, Josiah Blankenship, & Braeden Jacobs took third in the 200-yard medley relay before Blankenship took third on his own in the 200-yard freestyle. Boudreau and Szabo followed up with third place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke and freestyle, respectively. Balazs Bansagi, Carson Dowd, Szabo, & Blankenship brought home the last third place of the day in the last race of the day in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
 
The women gave a strong showing despite only competing with five swimmers. They picked up a second-place finish and three third places. Grace Funck had a hand in three of the four top three finishes of the day. Funck picked up her two individual podium finishes by placing second and third in the 100 & 200-yard backstroke, respectively with Victoria Murphy picking up the third individual podium finish with a third place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. Chloe Lee, Sophia Martin, Funck, & Murphy would round out the day with a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
 
The Crusaders will be back in action on October 19th, as they travel to Thomasville, Ga. to take on Thomas University.