BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Nathan Lile broke two pool records but the Gardner-Webb men's swim team came up short in a 134-111 loss to Davidson in the final dual meet of the season on Saturday afternoon in Bost Pool.
"We had another amazing meet with our former conference rival. We swam well the first half of meet, but we were getting touched out in too many races. We were swimming really well," said Gardner-Webb head swim coach Mike Simpson. "The men's medley broke the pool record, but we get a close but no cigar finish. We were so proud of Josh Hanson in 1,000 and 200 free. He has had the most frustrating swimming year, but wanted to contribute, and he got the cheer of the meet for a fifth-place finish in the 1,000!"
Lile had an impressive afternoon for Gardner-Webb swimming to first place finishes in the 200 IM (1:53.34) and the 200 free (1:43.12) and placed second in the 200 back (1:51.76) and anchored the 200 medley relay (1:33.78) that was just edged out by Davidson (1:33.11) who took first. The junior broke pool records in the 200 IM and the 200 back.
Prior to the start of Saturday's dual meet, Gardner-Webb's two male seniors, Joe MacGregor and Brandon Searle were honored along with their families.
The Runnin' Bulldogs broke their first pool record of the day, in the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay (1:33.78). Davidson won the 200 medley relay finishing just ahead of GWU in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:33.11
Overall, a total of seven pool records were broken, five of which were set by Davidson.
"At the break, we challenged our athletes to put races away and stop losing the close ones. They responded really well. Luke runs down the leader in 500 in the last 25. Tyler has a close win in the 100 fly and Nathan in 200 IM, along with nice 200 back," said Simpson. "Hal McKay stepped up big in our sprint events. The last relay swam a great time, but got nipped. Overall, it was a really good day of racing."
Luke Denman got the crowd roaring with a great performance in the 1,000, winning the first of two events on the afternoon with a first place finish in the longest event of the meet with a time of 9:43.01.
Following Denman's victory in the 1,000, Lile touched out Brandon Kegley in the 200 free to pick up nine big points for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Luke Burton got Davidson back in the win column picking up a victory in the 100 back (50.30), which was followed by a 1-2-3 finish for the Wildcats in the 100 breast.
Riley League swam to a victory in the 200 fly (1:57.25), which was followed by Cameron Bard sprinting to a win in the 50 free (21.59) for Davidson.
Coming out of the break, Brandon Kegley out-touched Hal McKay in the 100 free. Kegley won the event with a time of 47.78, but McKay finished just 0.18 seconds behind Kegley.
Burton won his second individual event of the meet, the 200 back (1:48.83) which was followed by a 1-2 finish by Davidson in the 200 breast.
Davidson looked like it would make it a sweep for the away team in the distance events with Clay Resweber leading the 500 free, but Denman (4:40.79) never gave up, chasing down Resweber (4:40.85) and picking up the victory for GWU. The 500 free was the closest event of the meet with just 0.06 seconds separating the first two spots.
Tyler Gomez flew though the pool winning the 100 fly in a time of 52.09, and Searle (52.86) finished two spots behind Gomez in third position, picking up three valuable points for GWU.
Lile made it three wins in a row for the Runnin' Bulldogs displaying a great swim, winning the 200 IM in a time of 1:53.34.
Davidson ended the meet winning the final event of the afternoon, the 200 free relay (1:25.12), but GWU did not go out without a fight finishing second and third.
Gardner-Webb takes two weeks off before it returns to action Feb. 18-21 when it heads down south to Athens, Ga. For the Coastal College Swim Assoication Championships on the campus of the University of Georgia.
