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Nelson posts NAIA National 'B' Cut in 50 free; SSU men's, women's swimming each win Tri-Meet against Midway, Pikeville
Posted: Jan 19, 2025

Nelson posts NAIA National 'B' Cut in 50 free; SSU men's, women's swimming each win Tri-Meet against Midway, Pikeville

VERSAILLES, Ky. -- The men's and women's swimming programs at Shawnee State University had a field day Saturday -- as the Bears took home convincing victories over Midway (Ky.) and Pikeville (Ky.) by winning 16 events between the men's and women's swimming spectrums and got a NAIA National 'B' Cut from Malik Nelson en route to enjoying wins of 179-29 and 153-80 over Pikeville and Midway on the men's side, and 145-24 to go along with 102-100 victories over UPike and the host Eagles on the women's side in Versailles.

Nelson heads collective charge in first official meet

Coming into Shawnee State's swimming programs as a NCAA Division I transfer from Virginia Military Institute, Shawnee State's Malik Nelson made an early statement against his fellow Mid-South Conference counterparts.

Nelson, who swam a 21.52 in the 50 yard freestyle, posted a NAIA Provisional Cut of the 'B' variety by beating out the necessary mark of 21.90 by nearly four-tenths of a second -- and winning the event by nearly 1.4 seconds.

However, Nelson wasn't done there. The sophomore, who also competed in the 100 yard butterfly, made it 2-for-2 on individual events by posting a 53.09 to win the 100 butterfly by 3.8 seconds.

Then, competing on Shawnee State's 'B' teams in the 400 yard freestyle relay and the 400 yard medley relay, Nelson helped Shawnee State's 'B' squad place second in both events. Nelson swam the fastest leg of any individual competing in the 400 yard freestyle relay, swimming a 48.94 in his leg to post the only sub-50 second leg of the 20 individuals who competed as part of the five relay teams in the 400 free.

Men

In addition to Nelson, Evan Ater also went 2-for-2 in his individual event showings, winning the 100 and 200 yard backstrokes by swimming times of 56.89 and 2:12.05 -- and in doing so, led a Shawnee State sweep of the top three positions in the 100 yard backstroke as Alexander Ray (58.55) and Josiah Ramdeen (59.37) placed second and third. Evan Siberell did the same -- swimming a 1:01.82 in the 100 yard breaststroke to win that event and teaming with Allan Gonzalez and Josiah Ramdeen to go 1-2-3 in the 400 yard individual medley, as the trio posted marks of 4:47.89, 4:55.45 and 5:04.39 to also sweep the top three spots in the finishing order.

Thomas Kessler added in a victory in the men's 1650 freestyle, swimming a 19:23.59, while Tony Goodwin, Evan Bower and Luke Lunsford went 1-2-3 in the men's 200 yard freestyle, swimming 1:54.23, 1:55.02 and 2:01.18 respectively to give the Shawnee State a sweep of the top three spots in a third event on the day.

Luke Lunsford and Evan Bower also added in two 1-2 finishes for Shawnee State for the afternoon as Lunsford, who placed second in the 200 yard backstroke, and Bower, who also placed second in the 100 yard butterfly, finished behind Ater and Nelson, respectively, to continue a strong day for the Shawnee State swimming program.

The 400 yard medley relay and 400 yard freestyle relay teams also swept the top two spots -- as the Shawnee State 400 yard medley relay team of Evan Ater, Evan Siberell, Evan Bower and Tony Goodwin swam a 3:44.94 to edge the 3:50.63 that Malik Nelson, Luke Lunsford, Allan Gonzalez and Alex Ray put down. In the 400 yard freestyle relay, the A team of Bower, Goodwin, Ray and Josiah Ramdeen clipped the B squad of Nelson, Lunsford, Gonzalez and Kami Walusimbi, 3:29.32 to 3:30.99.

Additional top finishers are as follows:

  • Enrique Rosado Lara (second, 200 yard butterfly)
  • Thomas Kessler (second, 500 yard freestyle)
  • Tony Goodwin (third, 50 yard freestyle)
  • Kami Walusimbi (third, 100 yard freestyle)
  • Alexander Ray (fourth, 50 yard freestyle)

Women

Shawnee State got major efforts from its women in the 50 yard freestyle -- as the quartet of Reagan Lewis, Mercedes Mwebeiha, De-Nicha Lewis and Jordan Patterson sweeped each of the top four spots in the 50 free, swimming 26.62, 26.68, 26.77 and 27.60 respectively.

In additional events, Katie McCafferty swam a 2:21.91 to claim a triumph in the 200 yard backstroke and also won the 400 yard individual medley with a 5:05.29 -- winning the latter event by over 41 seconds in the process.

Emma Conley, Emilie Wasnich and Abigail Bosler each added in one win apiece -- as Conley won the 1650 freestyle with a 24:36.47, Wasnich took home a triumph in the 500 yard freestyle (6:01.92), and Bosler won the 200 yard breaststroke (2:39.06). Wasnich won the 500 yard freestyle by more than 50 seconds, while Bosler won the 200 yard breaststroke by over 7.5 seconds.

Lewis, Wasnich, Bosler and Mwebeiha also added in one runner-up finish in individual events apiece -- as Bosler finished second in the 100 yard butterfly, Lewis posted the second-best time in the 100 yard freestyle, Wasnich claimed a silver in the 200 yard freestyle, and Mwebeiha added her second runner-up showing of the day with her placement in the 100 yard backstroke.

Additional top finishers are as follows:

  • Shawnee State 400 medley relay 'A' team (Katie McCafferty, Abigail Bosler, De-Nicha Lewis, Jordan Patterson, second)
  • Shawnee State 400 freestyle relay 'B' team (Katie McCafferty, Emily Boggs, Emilie Wasnich, Jordan Patterson, second)
  • Shawnee State 400 medley relay 'B' team (Mercedes Mwebeiha, Emily Boggs, Emilie Wasnich, Reagan Lewis, third)
  • De-Nicha Lewis and Julia Luallen (tied for third, 100 yard backstroke)
  • Jordan Patterson (third, 100 yard freestyle)

Additional

Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday, Jan. 25 in its final regular season meet of the 2024-25 season against Pikeville (Ky.). The meet, which begins at 12 p.m. at Warsaw Aquatic Center, will serve as Senior Day for both programs.