The Ashland men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams invaded the SPIRE Institute in Geneva looking to add names to the record books and take the program to new heights at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship meet.

The swimmers did just that, breaking two GLIAC records, three GLIAC meet records, seven school records and taking home seven conference crowns.

Freshman Philipp Sikatzki and sophomore Hannah Mattar were Ashland’s top performers.

Sikatzki won all three of his individual events and was named the conference Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

Mattar won two events, finished in the top four in two others and was also part of a GLIAC championship-winning relay team.

Overall, the men finished third out of seven teams and the women were fourth out of ten teams.

Sikatzki’s meet began with a win in the 50-meter freestyle. He reached the wall in 20.21 seconds, setting a school record.

In the 100-meter butterfly on Thursday, he matched his first-place finish from the day before and also broke the GLIAC record for the event. His time of 47.24 seconds was also good enough to automatically qualify for next month’s NCAA championship meet.

Sikatzki’s best event is the 100-meter backstroke, which he raced Friday.

He went out fast, and by the time he reached the last lap he could feel his legs getting tired.

“It hurt so bad, but the result was one of the best I’ve ever had,” he said.

A time of 47.10 broke the old meet record and ranked him first for Nationals.

“I have no idea how I was able to swim those times,” Sikatzki said. 

Mattar also broke a school record in her first final of the week, the 200-meter individual medley. Her time of 2:04.69 was good enough for fourth and just the start of an amazing week.

Mattar joined Sikatzki at the top of the medal stand with a first-place finish in the 400-meter individual medley on Thursday. Like Sikatzki, she also set a new conference record with a time of 4:21.04, which was faster than the B-standard for Nationals.

“I couldn’t even believe how fast I went,” Mattar said. “I was not expecting that at all.”

After finishing third in the 100-meter breaststroke on Friday with a time of 1:03.43, Mattar got back to the top in the 200-meter breaststroke on the meet’s final day.

Her 200-meter breaststroke time of 2:14.18 set a new GLIAC meet record and secured automatic qualification to Nationals.

Another swimmer who claimed an individual championship was senior Alex Sheil. After missing last year’s conference meet due to injury, Sheil won the 500-meter freestyle – which he calls his worst event – with a time of 4:31.58.

“I was really relaxed for it,” Sheil said. “There was zero pressure on the race, so it felt really smooth and comfortable and I led from the first lap.”

His best event, the 200-meter individual medley, saw him finish fourth, but a B-standard time of 1:49.10 should be enough to get him to Nationals.

Back on the women’s side, the 400-meter freestyle relay team of sophomore Kaylyn Murphy, senior Gabriela Verdugo-Araluz, freshman Anna Evans and senior Sara Reidler brought home Ashland’s only relay title with a time of 3:26.70, which was a B-standard and should get them to Nationals.

The Eagles were near the top in a number of relays, with the men placing second three times and third twice and the women getting one runner-up and two third-place finishes on top of the first-place in the 400 free relay.

The men’s 200-meter medley relay team of sophomore Sergio Sanchis Peris, freshman Greg Walters, senior Jacob Miller and Sikatzki finished third and set a school record, and the 200-meter freestyle team of Sikatzki, Sanchis Peris, senior Hueston Holder and Miller was second with a B-standard time of 1:21.42.

Additionally, the 400-meter freestyle team of Holder, Sanchis Peris, Sheil and Sikatzki took second (2:59.35) and the 400-meter medley relay team of Sikatzki, Sanchis Peris, Holder and Miller was third (3:17.02).

The women’s 200-meter freestyle relay team of Murphy, Evans, Verdugo-Araluz and Reidler was second (1:34.42) and the 200-meter medley team of Reidler, senior Brittany Finlay, senior Laurin McClure and Murphy finished third and broke a school record (1:44.04).

Murphy was second in the 100 freestyle (50.91) and fourth in the 50 freestyle (23.55), Reidler was third in the 100 backstroke (56.66) and Sanchis Peris was fourth in the 100 backstroke (49.16).

In diving, Colin MacDonald finished seventh on both 1-meter (204.50) and 3-meter (323.60).