Davidson
Elise Lankiewicz continued a strong weekend with a trio of top-three finishes, and Luke Burton posted the men’s team’s top finish, as the Davidson swimming teams finished competition at the Total Performance Invitational, hosted by Kenyon College, Saturday.
Individually, Lankiewicz won the 500-yard freestyle in a convincing 4 minutes, 51.70 seconds and placed third in the 100 freestyle in 51.38 seconds. She also contributed to a second-place effort in the 400 freestyle relay (3:25.91) and a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:44.78).
In total, Lankiewicz competed in 10 events (five individual and five relays) for a total of 14 races over the three-day meet. She placed in the top three in four of the five individual events with two victories, breaking her own 1,650 freestyle record (16:42.26) with a record 1,000 split in her first race of the meet Thursday.
The Davidson women ultimately placed fourth in the seven-team meet with 991 points, while the University of Pennsylvania won with 2,635 points. The Davidson men placed sixth with 574 points, as Penn completed the sweep (2,709.5) of the invite.
Luke Burton posted the ‘Cats’ top men’s finish of the day, touching sixth in the 100 freestyle in 45.50. It was his second individual championship final of the weekend after winning the 100 backstroke Friday.
Meredith Nakano and Katy Williams also continued stellar weekends for the women. In addition to contributing to both relays, Nakano earned a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 100 butterfly (56.41) and 200 individual medley (2:07.12). Williams, who broke her own school record in the 100 breaststroke Friday, placed third in the 200 in 2:18.27, and was joined in the championship final by freshman Sarah Coats (10th, 2:26.69). She also swam on the 200 medley relay team and placed 12th in the 200 IM (2:09.22).
Other top performers for the men included Spencer Gill and Cole Riggan. Gill won the consolation final in the 200 breaststroke in 2:04.34, while Riggan placed third in the consolation final of the 500 freestyle (4:36.22). Additionally, Geoff Smith trailed Gill in the 200 breaststroke in 16th (2:06.88), and also led a 1-2-3 Davidson sweep in the bonus final of the 200 backstroke (1:55.10).
Davidson will take nearly a month break from competition before returning to action Jan. 3 at the Deerfield Relays in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The Wildcats will compete in their final home meet of the season in Cannon Pool the following week Jan. 10 against William & Mary.
