By Emily Thirion, Swimming World College Intern.
The first session of the 2019 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship in Charlotte featured six events including the 200 medley relay, 1000 free, and the 800 free relay.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
Queens University of Charlotte earned the 200 medley relay title with a time of 1:38.76, dominating the field. The relay comprised of Rachel Massaro, Shelly Prayson, Georgia DaCruz, and Kyrie Dobson touched a full four seconds ahead of their second place competitors, and just missed the mark of the conference record by three tenths of a second, set by the same group of women the year prior.
Wingate University’s Anna Miram, Anne-Sofie Nissen, Maike Hoener, and Sara Aringsmann touched for a second place finish with a time of 1:42.94. The Bulldog’s were followed by the Eagles of Carson Newman University. The relay of Ksenia Naydenova, Gabby Aguiar, Elly Culp, and Lisa Postuma earned a spot on the podium with a 1:44.95.
Men’s 200 Medley Relay
In the same fashion as their female teammates, Queens University men’s relay swept the final, hitting the wall with a time of 1:26.20. Dima Sydorchenko, Jan Delkeskamp, Maius Kusch, and Brody Heck also came up just short of the conference record, set by their teammates in 2018 by one hundredth of a second.
Carson-Newman’s Seth Hughes, Andrei Roman, Ivo Kunzle, and Chad Andoljsek charged to a second place finish with a 1:28.39, and they were closely trailed by the third place finish of Wingate’s men, Markus Furst, Giacomo Viazzo, Niklas Martin, and Lukas Kraft. Wingate clinched the bronze with a 1:28.50.
Women’s 1000 Free
Sarah Reamy of Queens University picked up her first win of the meet, clocking in with a 9:57.45. The second place finisher, and Queen’s teammate Francesca Bains, paced with Reamy for most of the race touching shortly thereafter with a 9:59.12. Both girls went under the meet record of 10:02.26, which Bains had set in 2018. Wingate’s Kate Agger shaved seven and a half seconds off her entry time to take third in 10:05.45. Wingate teammate Louise Hallden was fourth in 10:13.19. Queen’s Hayley Blaauw took fifth in 10:13.76 after dropping eleven and a half seconds off of her seed time. Carol Bek (10:24.31), Mathilde Cros (10:25.78) and Sydney Smith (10:29.69) rounded out the heat.
Men’s 1000 Free
Alex Kunert of Queens University swept the 1000 free with a 8:58.46. His next closest competitor finishing just under fourteen seconds behind him. Kunert decimated the conference record (9:04.86) previously held by Iaroslav Denysenko since 2012. Luke Erwee posted a competitive 9:13.35 for second and was followed by Ben Evans (9:19.84) and Marcelo Figueiredo (9:13.35) respectively. Max Sundberg (9:24:39), Jonas Soerensen (9:26.69), Skyler Cook-Weeks (9:27.14), and Felix Grieb (9:27.14) took fifth through eighth.
Women’s 800 Free Relay
Queens University women stole the show, clocking in with a 7:20.65, and picking up a second relay win to end the night. Francesca Bains, Josephina Lorda, Anna De Boers, and Lexie Baker led the way with both Lorda and Baker sub 1:50 in their legs of the race. Following Queens, Wingate’s women Hanna Van Horen, Abby Kosic, Maria Madsen, and Leticia Odorici earned a second place finish in 7:24.27. Carson-Newman’s Gabby Aguiar, Iuliia Fomina, Regina Zipperer, and Lisa Postma locked in a bronze with a 7:36.75. All three teams on the podium clocked in under their entry times.
Men’s 800 Free Relay
Queen’s men cemented a sweep for the university on the first night. Touching with a 6:23.68, Alen Mosic, Marius Kusch, Alex Kunert, and Skyler Cook-Weeks broke the conference record of 6:25.36 previously set by the university. The men dropped ten and a half seconds from their entry time. Wingate’s men, including Lennart Queiss, Niklas Martin, Max Sundberg, and Markus Furst followed Queens with a 6:32.98. Carson-Newman’s Jon Lancaster, Nikola Tadic, Matthew George, and Marcelo Figueiredo secured a third place finish for their school.
Queens Men’s and Women’s programs lead in team score at the end of the first night.
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