No. 12/7 Cardinals Swamp Xavier

Friday, October 3

LOUISVILLE, KY

3:00 pm

University of Louisville

Xavier

October 03, 2025 | Swimming & Diving

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The No. 12/7 University of Louisville men's and women's swimming and diving team swept visiting Xavier in the season opener Friday afternoon at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.

The men won 196-61 and the women prevailed 192-67 as the Cards won every event.

The Cardinals had strong performances from the freshmen class in their debut at Louisville. Xeniya Ignatova had four wins (200 medley relay, 100 back, 200 back, 400 free relay) and Finley Conklin won the 200 medley relay, the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Freshman Nikita Sheremet won the 200 medley relay, the 50 free and the 100 free. Veteran sprinter Caroline Larsen won all four of her races, touching first in the 200 medley relay, the 50 free, the 100 fly and the 400 free relay. Sophomore Gregg Enoch won the 200 fly and the 200 IM.

The Cardinals head to Dallas for the SMU Classic on Oct. 10-11.

Race by Race Breakdown
In the 200 medley relay, the Louisville women took the top three spots with the B-relay team of Xeniya Ignatova (26.16), Caroline Larsen (27.70), Sophia Rodriguez (24.51) and Daria Golovaty (23.00) turned in a 1:41.37 for the win. The foursome of Julie Mishler (25.53), Mia Cheatwood (28.57), Ella Welch (24.32) and Avery Karl (23.52) boarded a 1:41.94 for the win. Abby Karl, Anna Ignagaki, Summer Cardwell and Julia Dennis combined for a 1:41.99 in exhibition.

In the men's 200 medley relay, Rian Graham (22.01), Finley Conklin (24.44), Thomas Powers-Hammond (20.92) and Nikita Sheremet anchored in 19.59 for the winning time of 1:26.96 for the Cardinals. The foursome of Filip Kosinski (22.89), Charlie Crush (25.43), Bryan Lombardi (21.33) and an anchor of 19.50 by Guy Brooks with a time of 1:29.15.

In the grueling 1000 freestyle, Leticia Romao turned in a time of 10:07.76 to score first place points for the Cardinals. Teammate Maya Bezanson touched second in 10:20.71. On the men's side Tommy Bried made a late move to get to the wall first with a time of 9:17.77. Max Hatcher touched second in 9:18.63.

In the 200 free, Louisville's Daria Golovaty pulled away from the field, touching in 1:49.87. Teammate Amelia Bodenstab was second with a time of 1:51.59 and Sadie Murphy clocked in at 1:54.23 for the sweep. Cardinal Guy Brooks battled down the stretch to out-touch teammate Matias Santiso, finishing in 1:37.60 just ahead of Santiso's time of 1:37.79. UofL freshman Oscar Isberg was third, clocking in at 1:38.00.

In the 100 backstroke, Xeniya Ignatova stopped the clock at 55.50 for the win. Avery Karl was second with a 56.97 and Abby Karl completed the sweep with a time of 57.80. The Louisville men swept the top three spots led by Charlie Crush's 49.47. Aidan Paro was second (49.87) and Drew Collins was a third with a 50.10.

Mia Cheatwood continued Louisville's winning ways, putting up the fastest time in the 100 breaststroke. Kim Herkle was third with a 1:02.82. For the men, freshman Finley Conklin touched first with a 54.85 just ahead of teammates Jake Eccleston (56.48) and Grant Gooding (57.56).

Summer Cardwell took first in the 200 butterfly, boarding a time of 2:02.24 for the Cardinals. UofL freshman Kaitlyn Sallows was third with a 2:05.39. Gregg Enoch won the 200 fly for the Cardinal men, posting a 1:47.44 with Jackson Millard touching second in 1:48.34. Tommy Bried was third in 1:50.04 to complete the UofL sweep.

In the 50 free, Caroline Larsen won with a 22.61, with Julia Dennis right on her heels with a 22.83 and freshman Julie Mishler was third in 23.03. The men were led by Cardinal newcomer Nikita Sheremet, who went 19.83 for the win. Rian Graham was second (20.37) and Aiden Musso was third in 20.90.

In exhibition diving, Sammantha Helmboldt posted a 289.20 to win both the women's 1M diving and the 3M, where she posted a score of 317.55. Mack Malloy had the highest score for the men with a 345.45 in the 1M and Ray Preas won the 3M with a score of 362.85. Xavier does not sponsor a diving team.

Daria Golovaty won the 100 free in 50.58 just edging Julie Mishler's 50.61. Abby Karl was fourth with a 53.66. For the men, freshman Nikita Sheremet turned in a 44.06 for the win just ahead of Matias Santiso's 44.23.

Xeniya Ignatova picked up her fourth win of the day with a victory in the 200 backstroke, clocking in at 1:59.88. Kim Herkle was second with a time of 2:01.18 and Sadie Murphy was third, going 2:03.59. Louisville's Filip Kosinski won the men's 200 back with a time of 1:47.98 just ahead of Drew Collins (1:50.78) and Nate Thomas (1:51.40).

Mia Cheatwood completed the breaststroke sweep with a win in the 200, posting a time of 2:16.28. Anna Inagaki was third (2:19.93). For the men, Finley Conklin tallied his third win of the meet with the winning time of 2:01.01. Jake Eccleston was second (2:03.02) and Gregg Enoch completed the 1-2-3 sweep with a time of 2:04.44.

Maya Bezanson notched her first win as a Cardinal with winning time of 4:57.45 in the 500 freestyle. Summer Cardwell was just a blink behind, boarding a 4:57.67 and Kaitlyn Sallows was third with a 5:05.46. Freshman Oscar Isberg pulled away from the field with a 4:30.12 to win the men's 500 free for the Cardinals. Max Hatcher had the second fastest time in exhibition with a 4:36.11.

UofL's Caroline Larsen was into the wall first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.47 for her third win of the day. Ella Welch had the second fastest time in exhibition with a 56.01. For the men's 100 fly, Rian Graham turned in the winning time of 47.88 for the Cardinals. Bryan Lombardi posted the second fastest time in exhibition with a 48.06 just head of Aidan Paro's 48.11.

In the 200 IM, Kim Herkle boarded the winning time of 2:02.20 for the Cards. Maya Bezanson put up the second fastest time in exhibition with a 2:05.10. For the men, Gregg Enoch battled teammate Jackson Millard in the final lap touching in 1:48.48 with Millard hitting the wall in 1:48.68.

The 400 free relay squad of Caroline Larsen (49.63), Summer Cardwell (50.58), Xeniya Ignatova (51.12) and Leticia Romao (53.54) had the winning time of 3:24.87. The foursome of Julia Dennis (50.98), Julie Mishler (51.07), Amelia Bodenstab (52.47) and Mia Cheatwood (56.01) touched second in exhibition with a 3:30.53. For the men's 400 free relay, Matias Santiso (44.27), Nikita Sheremet (44.09), Kayden Lancaster (45.88), and Charlie Crush (45.92).