CLARION, Pa. — The Clarion men's swimming and diving team earned a 124–113 dual-meet victory over Gannon on Friday night at Tippin Natatorium, relying on a clean sweep of the diving events, distance dominance, and a thrilling opening relay victory to seal the win.
In the diving events, Clarion stacked up significant points and added one more NCAA qualifier to the misx. On the 1-meter board, Michael Flamm led the charge with a winning score of 495.75, heading a 1–2–3 Golden Eagle finish alongside Damon Light (428.10) and Andrue Stalboerger (388.50). Flamm took the top spot on the 3-meter board with a score of 502.35, followed by Light's 465.15 and Stalboerger's 385.28. For Light, it represented his second NCAA mark of the season, clinching his spot at the NCAA prequalification meet in March.
In the swimming lanes, the Golden Eagles took complete control of the distance freestyle races. Freshman Connor Hoy paced the field in the 1000 Free, cruising to a first-place finish in 10:06.09 to win by more than 16 seconds. George Horey secured third place in 10:25.68, while Kevin Santos touched sixth in 10:43.98.
The Golden Eagles followed with a 1–2 finish in the 500 Free. Freshman Evan Ream took the gold in 4:45.71, outlasting Hoy, who finished runner-up in 4:51.37. Horey rounded out Clarion's scoring in the event with a fifth-place time of 5:07.43. Ream also produced an outstanding swim in the 200 Free, finishing second in 1:45.15 and missing the top spot by just three-hundredths of a second. Logan Curtis took fourth (1:50.79) and Dylan Chaky took fifth (1:51.46).
Freshman Darren Bittner turned in an individual victory in the 200 IM, touching the wall first in 1:57.99. Rich Scholer claimed fourth place in 2:02.94, followed immediately by Kasey Mahoney in fifth at 2:02.98. Bittner also delivered Clarion's best performance in the 100 Free, finishing second with a time of 49.24 seconds, while Chaky took fourth (49.91) and RJ Schaffer fifth (50.07).
Mahoney added another individual gold in the 200 Breast, touching first in 2:11.72. Gavin Guckavan took third in 2:13.30, and Scholer took fifth in 2:15.76. Guckavan added a runner-up showing in the 50 Free in 21.70 seconds, with Henry Miller finishing fourth in 22.11.
The Golden Eagles set the tone early in the 400 Medley Relay. The 'A' quartet of Miller, Mahoney, Guckavan, and Bittner captured first place in 3:28.15, holding off Gannon's top team by just over a second. Clarion's 'B' relay of Curtis, Scholer, Schaffer, and Joey Margita placed third in 3:37.26.
Miller led the Golden Eagles in the 200 Back with a fourth-place mark of 2:02.94. Santos (2:04.82) and Margita (2:05.83) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 200 Fly. Clarion capped the night with a third-place finish in the 400 Free Relay, as Ream, Hoy, Chaky, and Schaffer posted a time of 3:13.64.
