LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine University swimming made its return to the pool in strong fashion on Saturday as the men's and women's squads combined for 12 wins in 28 events against Xavier and Northern Kentucky on senior day at Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center.
 
Both the men and women topped Northern Kentucky's newly minted team, while the men also claimed a 131-130 victory over Xavier to sweep the day.
 
The competition was the Knights' first after nearly a full month of training since their last dual against Ball State on November 23.
 
On the men's side, seniors JP Metzner and Brandon Thomas lead the charge with three podium finishes each. Metzner took gold in both the 50 and 100 freestyle (20.79 and 46.97, respectively) while also placing second in the 100 butterfly (50.73). Thomas finished first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:07.45 while also placing second in the 400 IM (4:09.02) and third in the 100 breaststroke (59.25).
 
Junior Sam Jones touched the wall first in the 1000 freestyle (9:50.22) while sophomores Evan Dickson and Colin Jackson won the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke with times of 1:42.93 and 1:54.43, respectively. Jones also turned in podium finishes in the 200 butterfly (2^nd, 2:02.03) and the 500 freestyle (3^rd, 4:49.23). Jackson also added a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke (51.24) while grad student Andrew Nguyen placed second in the 100 breaststroke (58.97) and junior Cason Henderson placed second in the 400 IM (4:12.85)
 
In addition, the group of Jackson, Nguyen, Metzner and junior Caleb Howard took first in the 200 medley relay.
 
On the women's side, senior Alexandra Pierce and freshman Lily Wolfe earned three podium finishes each. Pierce took gold in both the 100 breaststroke (1:06.16) and the 100 butterfly (58.32) while adding a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.31). Wolfe touched the wall first in the 1000 free (10:50.05) while taking second in the 500 freestyle (5:20.67) and third in the 200 butterfly (2:18.01).
 
Freshman Micaela Godfrey tied Pierce with two golds on the day, winning both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Fellow freshman Annie Leibold added two second place finishes in the 100 and 200 butterfly.
 
In addition, junior Erin Dall'Agnol placed third in the 200 breaststroke as did sophomore Charlotte Tully in the 400 IM and freshman Clara McIntyre in the 500 freestyle. Fellow freshman Ava Jones took second in the 50 freestyle.
 
Up next, Bellarmine will close out its regular season with one final dual, traveling to Evansville, IN for a bout with University of Evansville on February 1^st.
 
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