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By Emily Thirion, Swimming World College Intern.
The third session of the 2019 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship in Charlotte featured eight events including the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and the 400 medley relay.
Women’s 500 Free
Junior Sarah Reamy sets the tone early in the meet for Queens University. Starting off with a controlled first one hundred setting a 56.41 pace, Reamy takes her second title of the meet with a 4:54.25, dropping three seconds from her entry time. Second, third, fourth and fifth place were taken by Wingate’s women Louise Hallden, Kate Agger, Leticia Odorici, and Mathilde Cros. Carolin Albers of Catawba secured a sixth place finish in 5:01.40. Queen’s Bobbi Gichard and Wingate’s Kelley Jones rounded off the top eight.
Men’s 500 Free
In the same fashion as his Queens teammate, Luke Erwee clinched the top spot in the distance event of the night with his dominant win in the 500 freestyle (4:25.49). The time is three and a half seconds faster than his entry time and two full seconds ahead of his competitors.
Queen’s teammate Mohamed Hegazy and Wingate’s Max Sundberg had a closer battle as they swam stroke-for-stroke through the 400. Hegazy ended up pulling away in the final 50 to take second in 4:27.33. Queens Hendrik Faber had a strong fourth place finish, and teammate Skyler Cook-Weeks picked up a fifth spot in 4:29.49.
Ben Evans finished sixth overall in 4:30.61. In the placing, he was followed by Matthew George (4:30.82) and Marcelo Figueiredo (4:34.46).
Women’s 200 IM
Lexi Baker picked up her first individual win of the meet after a relay win the night prior. Her time of 2:00.88 is eight tenths faster than her entry time this year, and was enough to get the win over her Queen’s teammate Josephina Lorda (2:02.04). Baker led the race from the first fifty, and maintained the lead throughout the 200.
Queen’s Georgia DaCruz locked the final podium spot for her university, dropping a half a second from her prelims swim to take third in 2:03.21, while Wingate’s Maike Hoener was fourth in 2:03.38. Carson-Newman’s Meredith Ginn took fifth in 2:03.46 after dropping a half a second from prelims.
Sara Arungsmann (2:04.11), Anne-Sofie Nissen (2:04.76) and Abby Kosic (2:06.46) rounded out the heat.
Men’s 200 IM
Likewise, Queen’s Marius Kusch took the title in the 200 IM. He had an explosive race, dropping three and a half seconds from his prelims swim. His time of 1:44.699 gave him the dominant victory over his teammate Jan Delkeskamp. Delkeskamp posted a quick 1:47.87 for second and was followed by Caleb Howell (1:48.54) and Baptist Leger (1:49.41).
Alen Mosic (1:49.57), Markus Furst (1:49.96), Zoltan Monori (1:51.28) and Jon Lancaster (1:51.30) took fifth through eighth.
Women’s 50 Free
Queen’s Polina Lapshina picked up a meet record in the prelims and a 50 free title in the night’s finals. She posted an explosive 22.71, just one hundredth off her morning swim. Her teammates Kyrie Dobson, Shelly Prayson, Courtney Stewart,and Frouke Beeksma were also in the mix through the first 25, finishing second through fifth respectively.
Carson-Newman’s women Lisa Postma (23.56), Elly Culp (23.60), and Mary Northcutt (23.95) locked the remaining three top eight positions.
Men’s 50 Free
Queen’s Dima Sydorchenko won the 50 free title handily in an otherwise dead heat. Sydorchenko powered to the wall in 19.99, the only competitor to come in sub 20. His Queen’s teammates, Brody Heck (20.17), Vince Regent (20.48), and Ruben Stam (20.55) took second, third, and fourth. Carson-Newman’s Jonny Goss (20.59) edged out Lukas Kraft (20.59) and Mitch Harwood (20.59) for fifth place. Kraft and Harwood’s sixth place finish served as the first tie of the meet. Tyler Bowersox’s 20.86 concluded the 8th place spot.
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
Queens University women once again stole the show, clocking in with n NCAA Division II record 3:37.38, to secure their fourth event win and end the night. Vladyslava Maznytska, Shelly Prayson, Georgia DaCruz and Polina Lapshina led the way for the rest of the field, decimating the previous NCAA record of 3:37.80 by Wingate from 2016.
Queens splits:
- Maznytska, 54.62
- Prayson, 1:00.79
- DaCruz, 53.57
- Lapshina, 48.40
Previous record splits:
- Viktoriya Arkhipova, 54.12
- Jessika Weiss, 1:01.48
- Armony Dumur, 52.57
- Sofia Petrenko, 49.63
For reference, Queens currently sits 34th in all of college swimming as they are just behind Akron and ahead of Arkansas.
Following Queens, Wingate’s women Anna Miram, Sara Arignsmann, Maike Hoener, and Abby Kosic earned a second place finish in 3:45.18.
Carson-Newman’s Ruth Hullette, Meredith Ginn, Elly Culp, and Lisa Postma finished off the top three finishes with a 3:49.79. All three teams on the podium finished well under their entry times.
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
Queen’s men cemented another sweep for the university on the second night. Touching with a 3:10.22, Marius Kusch, Jan Delkeskamp, Alex Kunert, and Alen Mosic took the top spot.The men dropped eight and a half seconds from their entry time. Wingate’s men, including Markus Furst, Giacomo Viazzo, Niklas Martin, and Lukas Kraft followed Queens with a 3:13.69. Carson-Newman’s Andrei Ungur, Andrei Roman, Ivo Kunzle, and Chad Andoljsek secured a third place finish for their school.
Queens Men’s and Women’s programs lead in team score at the end of the second night. Day three of the BMC Championship continues tomorrow with prelims at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 5 p.m. at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.
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