Franklin College swimming and diving teams delivered a dominant performance on Friday evening, securing a pair of lopsided dual meet victories against Manchester in what marked the final dual meet between the two schools as Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rivals. The Franklin women cruised to a 161-39 triumph, while the men matched their teammates’ intensity with a similarly comfortable 151-46 win.
The visiting Spartans faced an immediate onslaught from the Grizzlies from the opening events. On the women’s side, Josie Blanchard spearheaded the effort as a double individual winner, touching the wall first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:21.37 and capturing the 100-yard backstroke in 1:04.87. Franklin also swept the relay events, claiming the top spot in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Additional individual victories for the Franklin women rolled in across various disciplines. Harley Morris opened distance events with a win in the 1,000-yard freestyle at 11:41.86, and Macie McQuinn took the 200-yard freestyle in 2:05.90. Celeste Hollis sprinted to victory in the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 26.02, while Annie Jackson claimed the 100-yard butterfly in 1:04.63. Avery Crabtree added a win in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:45.84, Avery Tomlinson touched first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:13.84, and Alexis Fleming led the diving squad by scoring 212.75 points on the 1-meter board.
Grizzlies Men Dominate Relays and Individual Events
The Franklin men matched the women’s comprehensive sweep, putting together multiple double-winner performances. Will Chambley led the distance and backstroke events by winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:14.73 and taking the 100-yard backstroke in 58.59 seconds. Zachary Jackson-Blaine dominated the sprint events, clocking 21.67 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and 48.79 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. Grayer Belaire added two victories of his own, winning the 200-yard individual medley in 2:09.68 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:02.85.
Franklin swept both men’s relay races as well. Isaac Layton secured a win in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.60 seconds, Bryson Howe topped the field in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:10.19, and Sargio Canarini posted a winning score of 251.25 points on the 1-meter diving board.
The Grizzlies hit the road on Saturday to continue their schedule with a dual meet against Centre.
