WEBSTER, N.Y. -- The Grove City College men's swimming and diving team opened the 2026-27 season Friday evening by competing in the Webster (N.Y.) Fall Classic at Webster Thomas High School. Grove City accumulated 935 points at the event, good for second place at the four-team competition. Geneseo State won the meet with 1,462.5 points. Penn State Behrend recorded a third-place total of 750.5 points and Nazareth had 251 points to take fourth.

Sophomore George Witte (Columbia, S.C./Covenant Classical Christian) and senior Owen Hancock (Brunswick, Ohio/Westside Christian) both secured wins for Grove CIty. Witte won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 45.99 seconds and then posted a winning time of 1:58.87 in the 200 backstroke. 

Hancock, meanwhile, won the 100 butterfly in 51.29 seconds. He also took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.38 seconds. 

Hancock, senior Bryce Pope (Wilmington, Del./Delaware Valley Classical), freshman Charlie Thomsen (Greensburg, Pa./Latrobe) and Witte opened the meet by finishing second in the 200 medley relay (1:33.95). Thomsen, Pope, Witte and junior Ryan Turner (Fombell, Pa./Riverside) closed the meet with a runner-up time of 1:26.50 in the 200 free relay.

Pope took second in the 100 breaststroke (59.55) while freshman Carson May (Tallmadge, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) finished runner-up in the 500 with a time of 4:57.75. Hancock added a third-place arrival in the 50 free (21.69).

Senior Andrew Buxbaum (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) posted third-place times in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.11) and 200 individual medley (1:59.80). Freshman Hayden Nielsen (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake Christian) finished third in the 1000 with a time of 10:30.03. 

Grove City opens its dual meet schedule Saturday, October 24 at John Carroll. That non-conference clash will start at 4 p.m. in University Heights, Ohio.