The last of the Division III conference meets finished up this weekend as the stage is officially set for the big dance in three weeks in Indianapolis. The official psych sheets should be released today and swimmers around the country will all be eager to see where they end up on the psych sheet.
MIT swept the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletics Conference Championships and Tufts won their first men’s NESCAC Championships as they were the two marquee conference meets last weekend.
Tufts put up a good showing at the NESCAC Championships thanks in part to guys like Kingsley Bowen and Roger Gu. But the main swimmer of the meet was Karl Sarier of Bowdoin. The Polar Bears finished in fourth behind Tufts (1670), Williams (1590) and Amherst (1467).
Sarier broke the pool record in the 200 free at Bowdoin that was held by three-time Olympian Ian Crocker. Sarier went a 1:37.89, which was the fastest 200 free of any of the conference meets in Division III. Sarier currently sits third in the nation in the event.
Sarier also won the 100 free (44.47) and the 200 IM (1:50.07) on the weekend for the Polar Bears.
Tufts got wins at the NESCAC men’s meet from Kingsley Bowen in the 200 (1:46.88) and 100 back (48.22), Roger Gu in the 50 (19.95) and James McElduff in the 400 IM (3:56.65). The Jumbos also won the 400 medley relay (3:17.86) with Bowen (48.37), Matthew Manfre (57.07), Zachary Wallace (48.57) and Gu (43.85).
The Jumbos, which is the best nickname in Division III (although the Williams Purple Cows are a close second), closed out the meet in style with a win in the 400 free relay (3:00.79) with McElduff (45.76), Bowen (45.94), Lawrence Lau (46.07) and Gu (43.02), securing the University’s first ever swimming and diving conference championships.
Williams fought hard to defend their title, ending up second in the meet with wins from Lucca Delcompare in the 200 fly (1:48.68) and Jamie Lovette in the 1650 (15:37.40) and 500 (4:29.60). Williams also won the 800 free relay (6:40.85) with Delcompare (1:40.32), Andrew Trunsky (1:41.53), Henry Marquardt (1:40.32) and Lovette (1:38.68).
Amherst won the 200 medley relay (1:29.84) with Craig Smith (23.26), Elijah Spiro (24.65), Samuel Spurrell (21.70) and Jack Koravos (20.23), and Connecticut College won the 200 free relay at NESCAC’s with a 1:21.64. George Tilneac (20.87), Drake Freiberg (19.95), Charlie Adl (20.77) and Kaison Ifill (20.05) won the shorter free relay for Connecticut.
Ifill also won the 100 fly for Connecticut College with a 48.73, while Spiro won the 100 breast for Amherst (55.38). Amherst also got a win in the 200 breast from Sean Mebust (2:00.60).
MIT won both NEWMAC championships as Bouke Edskes and Jessica Chen each won three individual titles. Edskes won the 200 fly (1:49.16), 200 IM (1:51.07) and 400 IM (3:54.66) while Chen won the 100 breast (1:02.58), 200 breast (2:18.75) and 200 IM (2:06.34).
Chen also led off the winning 200 free relay (1:34.30) and swam breaststroke on the winning 400 and 200 medley relay teams (3:48.64, 1:43.45). Meanwhile, Edskes swam butterfly on the winning 400 medley relay (3:17.92) team and backstroke on the 200 medley relay winning team (1:30.19). Edskes also went second on the 400 free relay team (3:00.18). In fact, the MIT men won all five relays during the meet.
MIT men also got wins from Joseph Rodriguez in the 50 (20.53), Tim Kralj in the 100 fly (49.14), Dougie Kogut in the 200 free (1:39.88), Josh Graves in the 1650 (15:41.57) and Joshua Tomazin in the 100 free (44.64). Tomazin was also on four of MIT’s five winning relays as he swam on the 800 free relay with David Morejon (1:40.57), Jeremy Bogle (1:42.76), Dane Erickson (1:43.83). Tomazin anchored with a 1:41.58.
Tomazin also anchored the 200 free relay with a 19.89. Sam Ubellacker (20.67), Erickson (20.60) and Bogle (20.36) set him up for the relay win. He also went last in the 200 medley relay with a 20.42 anchor. Edskes (23.01), Justin Chiu (25.20) and Ubellacker (21.56) swam the first three legs.
The 400 free relay team of Tomazin (44.63), Edskes (45.56), Kogut (44.93) and Bogle (45.06) finished the meet out on a high note with a 3:00.18 win.
There were a lot of 3:17’s in the men’s 400 medley relay the last few weeks with Emory, Denison, Kenyon and Tufts all posting 3:17’s. MIT also swam a 3:17 at NEWMAC with Kralj (49.48), Chiu (54.75), Edskes (48.61) and Bogle (45.08) as that relay looks to be one of the most anticipated ones in three weeks in Indianapolis at nationals.
The MIT women won three total relays at the NEWMAC championships as they won both medleys and the 200 free relay.
MIT also picked up wins on the women’s side from Priscilla Wu in the 50 (23.74), Hannah Mahaffey in the 400 IM (4:28.45), Kailey Allen in the 100 (55.47) and 200 fly (2:00.81) and Caroline Kenton in the 200 back (2:04.71).
Allen is one of the emerging stars in Division III as she leads the nation in the 200 fly. She also swam butterfly on the winning 400 medley relay team with Mahaffey (58.69), Chen (1:02.24), Allen (55.30) and Lilia Staszel (52.41). Allen also swam butterfly on the 200 medley relay team alongside Nanette Wu (26.97), Chen (28.38), Allen (24.76) and Priscilla Wu (23.34).
MIT’s other winning relay team was the 200 free relay where they swam a 1:34.30 with Chen (24.05), Kayla Holman (23.69), Staszel (23.38) and Priscilla Wu (23.18).
Wheaton won the 400 free relay while the Coast Guard won the 800 free relay.
Wheaton also got a win in the meet from Lydia Dacorte in the 500 (4:55.17) and 1650 (17:06.95), Jenna Hayden in the 200 free (1:50.07), 100 back (55.91) and 100 free (51.43). Dacorte (51.60, 2nd) and Hayden (50.61, 4th) combined with Alexa Epstein (52.76, 1st) and Caitlin Daley (52.70) to win the 400 free relay.
Coast Guard’s Sarah Passilla (1:52.66), Kristen Young (1:52.37), Emily Benson (1:53.53) and Christine McCulla (1:55.91) combined to start the meet off with a win in the 800 free relay.
In action outside of the NEWMAC and NESCAC, Abby Van Harn of Calvin was named Division III swimmer of the week with wins in the 50 (23.17), 100 (50.04) and 200 free (1:50.79). She is currently ranked at the top of Division III in the 100 free and is fourth in the 50 and 10th in the 200. VanHarn has the potential to rake in one or two individual NCAA titles in a couple weeks in Indianapolis.
The Division III NCAA psych sheet will be released today or sometime this week. A preview column on who to watch and what races will blow your socks off will be released sometime next week.
Go bo’s!!!!!!!!!! ?
So SCIAC results aren’t relevant? #9 men’s team (PP) vs #10 (CMS)? Both ranked higher than any NESCAC team…
I agree. Lukas Menkhoff blew the lights out at SCIACs for PP.
My bad. I had that one written down and it slipped my mind when I was writing this. Also their 400 medley relay went 3:16…!
Lukas Menknoff was amazing, but there were others swimmers such as Mark Hallman, Sam To, and Liam O’Shea who had very respectable swims to help lead Pomona Pitzer to their first SCIAC championship title ever! Meet records were falling one after the other at this meet, it was incredible being able to witness it all.