PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The men's swimming program at Shawnee State took home seven first place finishes and nine second places en route to controlling much of the proceedings in a home quad meet against Midway (Ky.), Pikeville (Ky.) and West Virginia Tech Saturday, winning the home meet which took place at Warsaw Aquatic Center on the Shawnee State University campus in Portsmouth.

True freshman Robert Gibson enjoyed a strong meet for Shawnee State, taking home victories in the 200 and 400 yard freestyles to sweep both events. Gibson won the 400 yard freestyle race by over 11 seconds in during so.

Josiah Changar, Josiah Ramdeen and Malik Nelson also enjoyed good days from top to bottom. Nelson won the 50 yard freestyle in a photo finish over Changar by one-one hundredth of a second, Changar took the 100 yard backstroke over Ramdeen by just over a second-and-a-half, and Ramdeen beat Alex Ray by a shade over three seconds in the 200 yard backstroke as the trio helped lead Shawnee State to three separate 1-2 finishes in individual events.

Along with the runner-up finishes by Changar (50 free), Ramdeen (100 back) and Ray (200 back), Allan Gonzalez added in two separate second-place finishes in the 200 yard individual medley and the 200 yard butterfly, while Kutay Ababay finished second in the 100 yard freestyle, Tony Goodwin second in the 100 butterfly and Luke Lunsford second in the 100 breaststroke. Goodwin also placed fourth in the 50 free while Nelson added in a fourth-place in the 100 butterfly.

In relay events, Shawnee State's 'A' squad of Ababay, Changar, Nelson and Ramdeen edged out the SSU 'B' unit of Gibson, Goodwin, Lunsford and Ray for another 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay -- giving the Bears their fourth 1-2 finish of the day. The 'A' quartet of Ababay, Changar, Nelson and Ramdeen then dialed up one final winning performance in the 200 freestyle relay, winning by nearly four full seconds over West Virginia Tech's 'A' group while the SSU 'B' squad of Gibson, Goodwin, Lunsford and Ray finished in third place to round out the main event performers.

Shawnee State returns to action a week next Saturday when the Bears travel to Marion, Ind. to participate in a dual meet that Indiana Wesleyan University will be hosting. Meet time is set for 1 p.m. at De Voe Natatorium.

For more information on the Shawnee State men's and women's swimming programs, visit https://www.instagram.com/ssu_swimming/.