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Matteo Ballardin

Men's Swimming and Diving Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

Matteo Ballardin named GLIAC Male Swimmer and Freshman of the Year

The freshman won five medals, four of which were gold, and set two GLIAC records

HOLLAND, Mich. -- The fourth and final day of the GLIAC Championships came to a close for the NMU men's swim and dive team. 

The teams opened the meet with the championship heat of the 1650, which Saw Timothee Garin earn silver, his first GLIAC medal of the tournament.

After earning the top seed in the 100 free prelims, Jef Leroux captured a bronze medal with his time of 43.42. 

Freshman Matteo Ballardin capped off his sensational GLIAC Championships with a silver medal in the 200 breast, giving him five gold medals and one silver to go with two GLIAC records. Ballardin was named GLIAC Freshman of the Year and GLIAC Swimmer of the Year after winning five medals, four of which were gold, and setting two GLIAC records.

The 400 men's relay team of William LaCount, Daniel Khmara, Jef Leroux, and Leo Nolles ended the championship by setting a pool record, GLIAC meet record, and winning gold. 

The Wildcats would finish the championships in third place with 547 points, behind Wayne State (652) in second and Grand Valley (847.5) in first. 

Running Medal Count
Day 1
200 Medley - Bronze (Rocheleau, Tease, LaCount, Nolles)
200 IM - Gold and Bronze (Ballardin and Rosatelli)
50 free - Gold (Nolles)
1-meter diving - Bronze (Stiles)
200 free relay - Silver (LaCount, Fulconi, Leroux, Nolles)

Day 2
100 Fly - Silver (Nolles)
400 IM - Gold, GLIAC Record (Ballardin)

Day 3
100 Breast - Bronze (Tease)
200 Fly - Gold, GLIAC Record (Ballardin)
800 Free Relay - Gold (Ballardin, Khmara, Fulconi, Rosatelli)

Day 4
1650 Free - Silver (Garin)
100 Free - Bronze (Leroux)
200 Breast - Silver (Ballardin)
400 Free Relay - Gold, Pool Record, GLIAC Meet Record (LaCount, Khmara, Leroux, Nolles)

How It Happened
After the seniors were honored, the meet began with the 1650 (mile) freestyle. Timothee Garin, the second-seed heading into this evening, swam in the fifth lane. Garin was neck and neck with three other swimmers for a majority of the race, standing anywhere from second to fifth at any given split, before it became a two-horse race for second and third around the 13 minute mark. Where Garin would pull away with silver at 15:27.50. 

Leo Nolles and Daniel Khmara opened the 100 free B finals, and it was Nolles who would finish third at 44.69 and Khmara in fifth at 44.92. The A finals featured top seed Jef Leroux and William LaCount. Leroux earned a spot on the podium with bronze at 43.42, while LaCount finished eighth at 44.80. 

Caleb Rice featured in the B final of the 200 back, where he finished sixth at 1:52.97. Ian Rocheleau swam in lane two of the championship heat, finishing sixth at 1:48.31.

Alessandro Rosatelli and Andrew Tease competed in the B finals of the 200 breast. Rosatelli would take the heat in a come-back effort at 2:02.93, and Tease would finish eighth at 2:05.75. The A final saw Matteo Ballardin as the second-seed, and was in second by 0.10 seconds at the halfway point. Andrew Goh would end up pulling ahead, and Ballardin would settle for silver at 1:59.21. 

The 400 free relay team entered the pool as the second fastest team, and the 'Cats were ahead at the halfway mark. Nolles took off as the anchor, and it was already too late, as the 'Cats cruised to a new pool record at 2:53.85. 
 

Morning Session
Jef Leroux earned the top seed heading into tonight's championship heat of the 100 free with his 43.68, and William LaCount will join him as the seventh seed at 44.42. Leo Nolles and Daniel Khmara will swim in the B final, and both Gabriel Fulconi and Youssef Nahali are on standby as the alternates. 

Ian Rocheleau punched his ticket into the championship heat as the fifth seed with a time of 1:47.54. Caleb Rice will feature in the B final after posting a prelim time of 1:51.82. 

Matteo Ballardin will feature in the championship heat of the 200 breast after he posted the second-quickest prelim at 2:00.42, just one tenth of a second off the lead. Alessandro Rosatelli and Andrew Tease will compete in the B final as the 11th and 14th seeds. 

Zachary Billotte swam in the second heat of the morning 1650 free, finishing fifth at 16:29.96. Timothee Garin will compete in the championship heat of the 1650 free this evening, slotting in with the second-fastest time. 

How It Happened
Heat two of 10 in the 100 free saw Rafael Schaub and Hudson Lowery, where they finished third and sixth in the heat at 48.87 and 50.69. Liam Boomer swam in heat four, finishing seventh at 48.33. Bazil Massotte swam in lane one of heat six, where he finished third at 46.66. Heat seven featured William LaCount and Youssef Nahali; LaCount swam to first at 44.42, and Nahali second at 45.16. Gabriel Fulconi represented NMU in heat eight, finishing fifth at 45.10. Jef Leroux competed in heat nine, cruising to first in his heat at 43.68. Daniel Khmara and Leo Nolles represented in the final heat, swimming in lanes two and six. Nolles finished fourth at 44.58, and Khmara fifth at 44.92. 

The 200 back featured four heats of 31 swimmers, and the Green and Gold opened the account with Max Swiatkowski in lane eight of the second heat, where he finished eighth at 1:55.85. The final heat saw Ian Rocheleau and Caleb Rice, who finished third and fourth at 1:47.54 and 1:51.82, respectively.

The 200 breast had five heats of 36 swimmers, and the first NMU athlete to compete was Matteo Ballardin in the fourth heat, who finished second at 2:00.42. The fifth and final head saw Alessandro Rosatelli and Andrew Tease, who finished fourth and sixth at 2:03.80 and 2:04.08.



 
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Players Mentioned

Zachary Billotte

Zachary Billotte

Sophomore
Liam Boomer

Liam Boomer

Senior
Gabriel Fulconi

Gabriel Fulconi

5' 11"
Junior
Daniel Khmara

Daniel Khmara

5' 9"
Senior
William LaCount

William LaCount

Senior
Jef Leroux

Jef Leroux

6' 5"
Senior
Hudson Lowery

Hudson Lowery

Senior
Leo Nolles

Leo Nolles

Senior
Caleb Rice

Caleb Rice

6' 0"
Senior
Ian Rocheleau

Ian Rocheleau

Senior

Players Mentioned

Zachary Billotte

Zachary Billotte

Sophomore
Liam Boomer

Liam Boomer

Senior
Gabriel Fulconi

Gabriel Fulconi

5' 11"
Junior
Daniel Khmara

Daniel Khmara

5' 9"
Senior
William LaCount

William LaCount

Senior
Jef Leroux

Jef Leroux

6' 5"
Senior
Hudson Lowery

Hudson Lowery

Senior
Leo Nolles

Leo Nolles

Senior
Caleb Rice

Caleb Rice

6' 0"
Senior
Ian Rocheleau

Ian Rocheleau

Senior