Women's Recap

Freshman Lauren Brady (Tyngsboro, MA/Phillips Exeter) put together two outstanding swims Friday night and helped push the Kenyon College women's swim team into second place at the conclusion of the second day of the three-day Nike Invitational being held at the Kenyon Athletic Center Natatorium.
Brady was the only Kenyon individual to garner an event win in a field of eight teams, including four Division I squads. Brady's big swim came in the 400-yard individual medley. She turned in a winning time of 4:25.52, which was a new pool record and easily cleared the NCAA's automatic qualifying standard. The time was also the fastest ever turned in by a Kenyon freshman in that event. Additionally, Brady set the Kenyon freshman record in the 200-yard butterfly with her preliminary swim of 2:05.24.

Later in the meet, Brady teamed with Tina Ertel (Halle, Germany/Sportgymnasium Halle), Tracy Menzel (Greencastle, IN/Greencastle), and Alyssa Toran (N. Cumberland, PA/Red Land) for a third-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. That group clocked in at 3:53.11, an NCAA 'A' time.

Back in individual event competition, Ertel chalked up another automatic qualifying time for the Kenyon swimmers. She swam the 100-yard backstroke in a season-best 58.10, which turned out to be good for fourth place.

Rebecca Wenzlau (Palo Alto, CA/Palo Alto Senior) tacked on one more 'A' time as she zipped to a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.94.

At the conclusion of the night, the University of Kansas held the Nike Invitational lead with a total of 604.5 points. Kenyon was second with 512 points, Colgate University was third with 404.5 points and the University of Pennsylvania was fourth with 350 points.

Saturday's final day of Invitational competition will begin with preliminary heats at 10 a.m. followed by final heats starting at 6 p.m.

Men's Recap

The Kenyon College men's swim team was unable to snare an event win Friday, but the Lords' depth earned 11 top-five finishes, a total of 665 points, and a second-place position with one day to go in the Nike Invitational. The University of Pennsylvania currently leads the way with 705 points.

The Lords' top two finishes were second-place showings in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard individual medley. In the relay, Collin Ohning (Greenville, SC/Christ Church Episcopal), Josh Mitchell (Iron Mountain, MI/Kingsford), Matthew Harris (Laurel, MD/DeMatha), and Blair Withington (Hastings, New Zealand/Hasting Boys') clocked in at 1:22.99. Later in the meet, Dustin Schneider (Janesville, WI/Craig) swam the individual medley in 4:02.81, easily Kenyon's best time in the event this season. Kegan Borlan (Vandergrift, PA/Saint Joseph) was right behind him with a third-place time of 4:05.64.

Withington also added a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:42.37), while Mitchell placed third in both the 100-yard backstroke (51.13) and the 50-yard freestyle (20.85). David Lazarus (Moens, France Foundation of International) contributed an impressive third-place swim in the 100-yard breaststroke (56.65).

The Lords will make a run at the first-place Quakers Saturday, while trying to keep their distance from third-place Johns Hopkins University (265.5 points) and fourth-place Carnegie Mellon University (206). Preliminary heats start at 10 a.m. and final heats begin at 6 p.m. in the Kenyon Athletic Center Natatorium.