Truman State Splits With Drury

KIRSKVILLE, Missouri, January 27. The Truman women's swim team gave its senior swimmers a big gift on Saturday afternoon in Pershing Natatorium. In its final home dual meet of the season, the Bulldogs knocked off fellow Division II rival Drury (Mo.) 118-85 on Senior Day. Whitney Wodstrchill scored the Bulldogs only individual win on the day. The Truman men's swim team was unable to dethrone two-time defending National Champs, losing 132-70 during its final home dual meet of the season. The Panthers won all 11 events contested on the day.

Truman's superior depth led the charge, as the team scored 19 individual NCAA Division II ‘A' or ‘B' cut qualifying times.

Leading the way for Truman was Wodstrchill who scored a first-place win and ‘B' cut time of 17:33.55 in the 1,650 free. Wodstrchill also earned an ‘A' cut time in the 200 back, touching the wall in 2:05.36.

The Bulldogs also picked up victories in both relay events contested on the day.

Drury's disqualification in the 400 free relay allowed Truman to take a clean sweep of the event, picking up 17 points in the process. The Bulldogs' 400 free relay "A" team of Kate Aherne, Kendra Brunkow, Molly Poellte and Brittany Anderson won the event in a time of 3:36.91. Truman's "B" relay team placed second in the event (3:40.85), followed by the squad's "C" team which placed third (3:57.54).

The Bulldogs 400 medley relay team also picked up a key relay victory. The team of Lija Kaleps-Clark, Brigit Brunsman, Nicole Sharp and Catherine Sonnichsen combined to win the event with a time of 4:00.64. Truman's 400 medley relay "B" team finished second (4:12.29).

The Bulldogs had three other swimmers achieve ‘A' cut times on the day. Polette earned a second-place podium spot in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.90, and was joined on the nationals qualifying list by Kaleps-Clark and Lindsay Vaughn who recorded ‘A' cut times in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.25) and 200 back (2:06.23), respectively. All three earned additional ‘B' cut times in their respective events, with Polette swimming a 5:09.98 in the 500 free, Vaughn touching the wall in 2:10.85 in the 200 fly and Kaleps-Clark swimming a time of 4:34.60 in the 400 IM.

Other ‘B' cut qualifiers for Truman included Aherne (50 free – 24.58), Anderson (200 breaststroke – 2:25.50; 400 IM – 4:37.97), Brunsman (200 breaststroke – 2:26.50), Emily Pufall (100 free – 53.21; 200 free – 1:56.60), Katie Welsh (200 fly – 2:10.40; 400 IM – 4:34.35), Laura Harp (200 fly – 2:11.26) and Emily Greenwood (200 backstroke – 2:07.13)

On the men's side, Truman had four swimmers record second-place finishes at the meet. Tom Applegate narrowly missed a NCAA Division II ‘B' cut qualifying time in the 50 free, placing second in the event with a time of 21.66. Chris Hagan (200 free – 1:47.55), Kyle Ruiz (1,650 free – 16:56.89) and Matt Schwiebert (200 breaststroke – 2:17.24) rounded out the second-place finishes for the Bulldogs.

Truman also earned second-place finishes in the 400 medley and 400 free relay events.

Two other bright spots for the Bulldogs were Andrew McCall and Alex Totura who both swam season-best times in their respective events. McCall got out of the water in 48.39 in the 100 free to finish third in the event, while Totura also placed third in the 500 free, swimming a time of 4:53.65.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use