Kenyon College captured it's 30th consecutive men's NCAA championship while the Ladies claimed their third-straight title. Together, the Gambier, Ohio college has collected fifty-three championship trophies.
The Lords and Ladies were far from the only story of a meet that saw twenty-two records felled over the four-day meet. Despite the addition of a fourth day, the energy on deck and in the stands remained high. After recognizing the evening's seniors, the crowed erupted into a wave that encircled the Dorothy L. Sheppard Aquatic Center, before being treated to a tradition of big meets at the Minnesota Aquatic Center - Dan Cook's acrobatic 10-meter rendition of the national anthem. [Click Photo at Right]
Even the locals were impressed. Jean Freeman, longtime Minnesota women's head coach and witness to dozens of Big Ten and NCAA Division I Championships, commented, "I love this - the way the fans react to this, how they're getting into it, the wave, everything."
The evening began with the 1650 freestyle, an event where Liz Horvat could erase any debate over the swimmer-of-the-meet. Standing in the way of her third win, however was defending champion Kaitlin Meirs of Kenyon. After 50 yards, Horvat held a 0.07 second edge over Denison freshman Hilary Calen. It would prove the closest she would ever get as Horvat outsplit the field on every single lap. Sixteen hundred yards later the sophomore lapped all but Meirs for her third record of the meet. Callen finished a distant second, while C-M-S' Whitney Dawson swam to third out of the morning heats.
On paper the men's mile offered no clear-cut favorite, but on another paper - namely the historical record of the 1650 there was a favorite - anyone from Kenyon. The Lords had won the event eighteen-consecutive times. Last year Keegan Borland outdueled a trio of Emory milers for the victory. This year Borland led four swimmers under his winning time from last year - but was offered a challenge by none of them.
Kendra Stern followed Borland's repeat performance with one of her own. After posting a 49.5 in her first 100 of the 800-free relay, the Sophomore was the odds-on favorite to repeat. She didn't disappoint - going out in 23.88 to slip under Marie Marsman's record. Ruth Westby (Emory) and Kristen Hohl (Denison) both moved up spots from last year's third and fourth place finishes respectively.
The morning saw the oldest record in the books fall when Grove City's Caleb Courage erased Jim Born's 24-year old record. All was silent when the senior took his marks in what figured to be another historic swim. The burly senior displayed uncharacteristic hand speed in his morning swim. At night utilized his tremendous feel for the water, going out 2/10 slower than his morning swim. He brought it home faster, and fell just 0.02 seconds short of his own record. Denison Senior John Geissinger, who up until this point had suffered a frustrating meet found himself gaining on Courage and finished in 43.81 - a full second and full spot higher than a year ago. Zach Turk, winner of the 50 free, finished third.
With last year's runner-up Molly Evans relegated to consolations of the 200 backstroke, Emory's Tess Pasternak, seemed to have a slight edge in the veteran field. She posted the only sub-2:00 in the morning, but have her hands full with fellow-seniors and past finalists Carolyn Barer (Kenyon) and Amanda Nicholson (Williams). It was a fourth senior, however, Brie McDowell (St. Mary's-MD) who set the pace. The pace proved unsustainable, and she was overtaken by the senior trio with fifty yards remaining. Pasternak turned first, but was caught by Nicholson and Barer on the underwater. Coming home Barer gained the lead for good, touching in 2:00.15, just ahead of Nicholson (2:00.61) and Pasternak (2:00.69).
John Thomas has never been one to hold back in a race. A year ago it cost the Johns Hopkins' backstroker a shot at Leandrio Montiero's record in the 200. Then he didn't have much of a challenger, midway through this year's 200 backstroke, it was Thomas vs. Saint Thomas, namely Tommie's Peter Mullee. Thomas (the Hopkins one) was out 1/2 second slower than a year ago and he needed every ounce of those legs to outkick the Minnesota transfer. Both swimmers went under Montiero's record, with Kenyon's Michael Mpitsos swimming to show.
With Kaitlin Orstein having graduated the 200 breaststroke was guaranteed to have a new champion and the candidates were many. Springfield's Moira Price took the top seed into the meet. CMS's Annie Perizzolo was the highest-returning finisher, while Kenyon's Tracy Menzel aimed to sweep the breaststroke events. Lurking in the dark, however was Kenyon's Alisa Vereshchagin. The Freshmen dropped three seconds from morning to night and dropped the field in the process. Perizzolo repeated her second-place finish while Price, after storming out to the lead fell to third.
The final individual event of the night offered fan favorite Nelson Westby his last shot to claim a breaststroke title. Throughout the past two years the St. Olaf senior was stymied by Staten Island's Pavel Buyanov. Westby narrowly missed Josh Boss' national record in December, but the 24-year old from Novosibirsk was in the minds of everyone. Westby would have nothing of it, however. He stormed out to an early lead and outpaced the field in each of the first three splits. By the final lap Westby was obviously gassed and hoping to hold off Buyanov and a hard-charging Alex Beyer. He did, claiming the win in 1:59.26. Beyer slipped ahead of Buyanov for second. Claremont freshman Vincent Pai, who failed to qualify for finals, served notice he plans to contend for a title after swimming the third-fastest time of the meet - a 1:59.90 to win consols.
In all the storied years of Denison swimming, the Big Red had never won the 400-yard freestyle relay. All that changed when Olivia Zaleski, Annamarie Novinger, Kate Rich and Kristen Hohl - the same quartet that finished third a year ago - lopped five seconds off of their previous best and nearly two seconds off of Amherst's winning record from a year ago. By the half-way mark the relay appeared to have split into a three-way race between Denison, Emory and Amherst. Each of the three had hidden their weakest leg in the number-three spot, and as is often the case - the teams proved only as good as their weakest link. Rich and Emory's Whitley Taylor matched each other stroke-for-stroke, but when the anchors hit the water it was all Denison. Hohl posted the fastest split of the meet to power the Big Red to the win.
With the team title decided a day earlier, all that remained were bragging rights in the 400 freestyle relay. Kenyon aimed for its fourth relay title of the meet. Denison looked to repeat the success of its women moments earlier while Grove City's talented sprinters looked for one last shot to play David to Kenyon's Golliath. Kenyon's Turk called on the field to catch them if they could when he went out in 44.23 to take the early lead. Denison and Grove City both lined up slow-to-fast, and found themselves contending with the waves of teams that put their best foot forward - namely DePauw, Amherst and WashU. As the race developed Kenyon's lead grew and grew. By the final leg, veterans Matt Harris and Blair Withington gave freshman David Somers the responsibility of holding off big John Geissinger. The Big Red were hoping for a Lezak-esque anchor leg to overcome the Lord's body-length lead and they almost got it. Geissinger cut the Lord lead in half, but even with a 42.85 split, couldn't catch Somers. Both teams went under the decade-old record with Grove City finishing third in 2:59.06.
National Awards
Women's Diver of the Year - Erica Deur (Calvin)
Men's Diver of the Year - Nicholas Halbach (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy)
Women's Swimmer of the Year - Liz Horvat (Emory)
Men's Swimmer of the Year - John Thomas (John's Hopkins)
Women's Diving Coach of the Year - Aaron Paskvan (Calvin)
Men's Diving Coach of the Year - Kevin Ryan (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy)
Women's Swimming Coach of the Year - Jon Howell (Emory)
Men's Swimming Co-Coaches of the Year - Dave Hauck & Bob Hauck (St. Olaf)
Top 20 team finishes:
Women – Kenyon 560, Emory 466.50, Denison 413, Williams 334.50, Amherst 201.50, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 174, Calvin 171, Wisconsin-La Crosse 125, Carthage 114, Johns Hopkins 105, Stevens Institute of Technology 100.50, Springfield 95, Ithaca 75, Washington (Mo.) 74, SUNY-Geneseo 72, Trinity (Tex.) 59, Carleton 49, SUNY-Fredonia 37, Hope 37, Westminster 34, Whitworth 34. [complete team scores]
Men – Kenyon 604, Emory 402, Denison 308.50, St. Olaf 252, Amherst 196, Grove City 168, Washington (Mo.) 151.50, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 143, M.I.T. 138.50, College of New Jersey 130, Johns Hopkins 126, Kalamazoo 92, DePauw 92, Staten Island 75.50, Gustavus Adolphus 71, Connecticut College 59, Hope 57, Puget Sound 51, UC-Santa Cruz 49, Wisconin-Oshkosh 48. [complete team scores]
