TORONTO – The Dinos continued their dominance throughout the second day of racing at U SPORTS Championships in Toronto, claiming their fourth national title of the meet and three more medals in total Friday.

Sophomore sensation Alexanne Lepage claimed her third national title and Hannah Johnsen earned her first individual silver medal this meet as the Dinos women continued to roll.

There is one very important day left of this nation-wide competition. Heading into the last day, the women are currently sitting in second place and the men are in third, but both the women and men are in a tight battle against McGill University. 

"We had some good swims tonight," Calgary head coach Mike Blondal said. "Carter Scheffel and Aiden Luykenaar really got after it with some great best times, and Alexanne Lepage continues swimming on to win. Tomorrow is a big day for us, as we have some of our top events and will be working hard to hold off McGill. We just need to put our heads down and swim." 

Starting the night off strong for her team, Eliza Housman had a killer 50 freestyle in the A final. Housman inched up and tied for fifth place after getting a lifetime best of 25.54. Gibson Black tied his lifetime best of 22.73 in the men's B final, placing 14th overall. Teammates Julianne Moore (11th), Emily De Jager (18th), Stephen Calkins (eighth), Ethan Fast (17th) and Addison Butler (18th) respectively racked in points for the team in this event, as well. 

The 200 breaststroke is a specialty event for the Dinos, with a whopping 11 swimmers in this event wearing the Scarlet & Gold cap. The A final was a knockout heat, as Alexanne Lepage secured another gold medal after a technically beautiful race with quick turns and a strong last 100 meters while accelerating her speed into the walls, finishing with a time of 2:25.35 to successfully defend her national title. She swam alongside teammate Danika Ethier, who continued to shine in her first year as a Dino, placing fifth. In the B flight, Isabella Duncan led the way in the first half of the race with Hannah Bennett staying close behind. Ultimately it was Duncan who kept her lead placing tenth overall, with Bennett finishing just behind in 11th. Abby Gebhardt (20th) led her C heat in the first 50 meters of this leg and dominated the race with a strong performance alongside teammate Brooklyn Pickford (22nd).

Flipping it over to the men, Aiden Luykenaar furthered his best time and his ranking in the A final, moving up to seventh place with a new best time of 2:12.59. In the B final, rookie Carter Scheffel had a fierce race, starting out strong and holding that pace the entire way. He reeled in his competition in the last 10 meters and almost had the finish, ultimately placing second in his heat (10th overall) with a time of 2:11.62. The B final also featured last night's breaststroke gold medalist Nicholas Duncan and Jett Verjee who was able to drop his time, swimming faster than he did earlier on today. 

In the 400 freestyle, Emily De Jager looked smooth and controlled the entire way, slowly creeping up on her competitors in the last 100 meters of the race. De Jager was able to keep her head down and push past the pain from muscle fatigue with an amazing world class finish, hitting the wall at 4:21.36 and 11th overall. 

Zeroing in on the men in this event, rookie Hunter Payne snuck up on the field in the last 100 meters as he started to gain speed and hit the wall at 3:54.40. Also in this heat was Patrick McCloy who led the field throughout the first quarter of this race. Xavier Pimentel and Liam Dennett were heat leaders in the C final right from the beginning, pacing off each other from opposite ends of the pool. Finishing up the race, it was Pimentel who was able to pull ahead with a strong last 100 meters and touch the wall first (17th overall), with Dennett just behind. 

In the A final of 100 backstroke, specialist Hannah Johnsen excelled throughout the last length of the race which brought her up to second place overall after hitting the wall at 1:00.26 for the national silver medal. Brooklyn Avey represented the Dinos in the C final, respectively earning points for the team. On the men's side, Henry Sclater had an outstanding race, moving up 12 spots from his original seeding and once again furthered his best time, now sitting at 55.35. 

Hannah Bennett solely represented the Dinos in the women's 200 individual medley. The senior stayed close behind the leading swimmers in this race, giving them a run for their money and was able to bring it home with a fourth-place finish after hitting the wall at 2:17.17.

Charlie Skalenda was the Dinos star in the A flight, wrapping up this event with a fourth-place finish and a time of 1:59.84. Scheffel, who swam in the B final, was once again able to drop his time from his race this morning, proving his resilience and determination to succeed. The Dinos in the C final were up against a competitive field. McCloy (21st) showed off with some outside smoke out of lane 1 and Matthew Syrgiannis (18th) was an absolute powerhouse in the backstroke and freestyle leg of this race. 

Next up was the 50-meter butterfly. In the women's field, Eliza Housman was up against an extremely tight heat. Housman persevered and increased her stroke rate up to place sixth in the B final and 14th overall. Angel Loseth was able to knock off a bit of time from her morning swim in the C flight. 

Thomas McDonald had some outside smoke in the A final after a quick turn and accelerating his speed and effort into that finish to secure the sixth-place finish with a time of 23.78. In the B final, Stephen Calkins demonstrated the importance of fast and powerful dolphin kicks underwater as he used those to keep up with the field. Stephen Moore added more points for the Dinos in the C final. 

Day 2 wrapped up with the 800 freestyle relay. On the women's side, Lepage, Johnsen and De Jager got the Dinos out to a strong start before H. Bennett anchored the squad home for a bronze medal - holding off a strong McGill group with a final time of 8:10.98.

Centering into the men, the Dinos had Gibson Black break the water, Stephen Calkins followed and instantly got to work in that first 50 meters, Nicholas Duncan swam next as he helped close the gap between Calgary and UBC. Anchoring was Addison Butler who fought an incredibly close battle against McGill and Victoria, ultimately placing fifth with a time of 7:18.69.

"I'm happy with all of the hard work the team has put into the training block leading up to this meet," Luykenaar said after the busy day of competition. "It's inspiring to see everyone put their heads down and get after it."

As the Dinos head into the last day, many of them are aiming to be named onto the USPORTS Canadian All-Star Team to be nominated to compete in an international dual meet against the England University All-Star Team, with 4 Dinos earning that title thus far. 

The final day of competition gets underway Saturday morning with preliminary action at 7:30 a.m. MT. The final six events of the year on each side are scheduled to get underway at 3:30 p.m. MT.

TEAM STANDINGS *after Day 2
WOMEN
1. UBC, 1054.0
2. Calgary, 597.5
3. McGill, 591.5
4. Toronto, 496.0
5. Alberta, 212.0
6. Western, 198.0
7. McMaster, 163.5
8. Lethbridge, 159.0
9. Victoria, 144.5
10. Laval, 142.0
11. Guelph, 132.0
12. Brock, 127.0
13. Montreal, 125.0
14. Ottawa, 115.5
15. Dalhousie, 111.0
16. Manitoba, 100.5
17. Waterloo, 88.0
18. Acadia, 55.0
19. Sherbrooke, 4.0
20. UNB, 2.0

MEN
1. UBC, 947.0
2. Toronto, 748.5
3. Calgary, 589.0
4. McGill, 524.5
5. Alberta, 248.0
6. Western, 233.0
7. Ottawa, 190.0
8. Victoria, 182.5
9. Waterloo, 140.0
10. York, 96.0
11. Lethbridge, 90.5
12. Laval, 80.5
13. Laurier, 68.0
14. McMaster, 63.0
15. Memorial, 58.5
16. Dalhousie, 53.0
17. Montreal, 48.0
18. Sherbrooke, 42.0
19. Regina, 38.0
20. Carleton, 36.0
21. Manitoba, 33.0
22. Acadia, 25.0
23. UNB, 16.0
24. Brock, 13.0
25. UQTR, 2.0


DINOS RESULTS

Women's 50 Freestyle
5. Eliza Housman – 25.54
11. Julianne Moore – 26.01
18. Emily De Jager – 26.33
26. Myriam Hickey – 26.66
32. Angel Loseth – 26.77
45. Brooklyn Avey – 27.10
49. Madisen Jacques – 27.25

Men's 50 Freestyle
8. Stephen Calkins – 22.50
14. Gibson Black – 22.73
17. Ethan Fast – 22.91
18. Addison Butler – 22.99
26. Liam Dennett – 23.17
34. Stephen Moore – 23.38
41. Henry Sclater – 23.55
47. Alex McDonald – 23.87

Women's 200 Breaststroke
1. Alexanne Lepage – 2:25.35
5. Danika Ethier – 2:32.32
10. Isabella Duncan – 2:34.33
11. Hannah Bennett – 2:34.49
15. Bella Mastroianni – 2:37.93
20. Abby Gebhardt – 2:39.48
22. Brooklyn Pickford – 2:40.96

Men's 200 Breaststroke
7. Aiden Luykenaar – 2:12.59
10. Carter Scheffel – 2:11.62
12. Jett Verjee – 2:14.78
13. Nicholas Duncan – 2:15.64

Women's 400 Freestyle
11. Emily De Jager – 4:21.36
21. Claire Bennett – 4:23.95

Men's 400 Freestyle
10. Hunter Payne – 3:54.40
12. Patrick McCloy – 3:57.12
17. Xavier Pimentel – 3:56.14
22. Liam Dennett – 3:58.12

Women's 100 Backstroke
2. Hannah Johnsen – 1:00.26
22. Brooklyn Avey – 1:03.98

Men's 100 Backstroke
13. Henry Sclater – 55.35
20. Ethan Fast – 55.97
26. Gibson Black – 56.46

Women's 200 IM
4. Hannah Bennett – 2:17.17
17. Bella Mastroianni – 2:21.93
35. Monica Oleszczuk – 2:27.21

Men's 200 IM
4. Charlie Skalenda – 1:59.84
13. Carter Scheffel – 2:02.71
18. Matthew Syrgiannis – 2:03.43
21. Patrick McCloy – 2:04.12
30. Addison Butler – 2:06.93

Women's 50 Butterfly
14. Eliza Housman – 27.93
20. Angel Loseth – 28.28
27. Madisen Jacques – 28.43
36. Hayley French – 28.84
37. Julianne Moore – 28.85
47. Isabella Duncan – 29.04
48. Myriam Hickey – 29.06
57. Monica Oleszczuk – 29.67

Men's 50 Butterfly
6. Thomas McDonald – 23.78
12. Stephen Calkins – 24.42
24. Stephen Moore – 24.91
58. Alex McDonald – 25.94

Women's 800 Freestyle Relay
3. Lepage, Johnsen, De Jager, H. Bennett – 8:10.98

Men's 800 Freestyle Relay
5. Black, Calkins, Duncan, Butler – 7:18.69

-UC-