Denver Earns Dual Titles at Summit League Championships

Photo Courtesy: Summit League

By Kaylie Noll, Swimming World College Intern

The 2016 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships concluded this evening in Indianapolis, with the University of Denver taking home victory on both the men’s and women’s sides for the third year in a row.

The final session opened with the 1650 yard freestyle, where on the women’s side, Denver easily took the first four places, led by none other than Maddie Myers and her time of 16:20.04, which broke the Summit league championship record from the previous year. Tyra Rooney touched the wall next with a time of 16:27.93. Both first and second places earned NCAA B standards. Clara Jenck and Karly Haraden rounded out the top four, swimming times of 16:37.53 and 16:41.76, respectively.

The men milers were led by Denver as well, with reigning champion Dylan Bunch breaking his own league championship record from last year by almost a second with a time of 14:54.73. Scott Bergstrom finished second in 15:13.69, while Alex Walton touched at 15:25.44. All three men made the NCAA B time standard.

The meet moved on to the women’s 200 yard backstroke, where Denver’s Morgan McCormick held first place with a winning time of 1:54.47. Teammate Lexie Malazdrewicz finished second in 1:58.34, with a NCAA B time like McCormick. Alexis Bullard from IUPUI edged out the rest of the heat, swimming to third place and a time of 2:01.17.

On the men’s side, Denver’s Anton Loncar and Jared Smith went 1-2 handily, with NCAA B cuts of 1:42.31 and 1:45.45, respectively. University of South Dakota’s Ian Ford stole third with a time of 1:50.13, out-touching Eastern Illinois University’s Brogan O’Doherty by six one-hundredths of a second.

Johanna Roas effortlessly won the women’s 100 yard freestyle with a NCAA B standard time of 48.88, breaking her own league championship record that she set in the morning. Her teammates Lauren Moden and Zoe Huddleston finished second and third, correspondingly. Moden lowered her prelim time to 50.12 while Huddleston came in right behind at 50.16.

Denver’s Ray Bornman was determined to break his league championship record from last year in the 100 yard freestyle, and he did just that, lowering the time to 43.08. Teammate Kyle Robrock went home with second place with his time of 43.58, a NCAA B cut like Bornman. Ben Bolinske from South Dakota State University and Lennart Kuester from IUPUI tied for third, each touching the wall at 44.53.

The University of Denver women took first through third place in the 200 yard breaststroke, with Amanda Sanders finished in practically open water with a time of 2:09.69, a NCAA B standard. Bailey Andison took second with a time of 2:16.56 while Maddie Eyolfson swam into third in a time of 2:17.29.

In the men’s 200 yard breaststroke, IUPUI’s Jonathan Stoller broke the two-minute barrier, made his NCAA B cut, dropped almost four seconds from prelims, and out-touched former league champion and current league championship record holder Tim Cottam from Denver. Stoller swam a time of 1:58.61, while Cottam touched at 1:58.80. Wyatt Rumrill, representing South Dakota State University, took home bronze with a time of 2:01.31.

Next up was the women’s 200 yard butterfly, where Denver’s Heidi Bradley broke the two-minute barrier as well, swimming a NCAA B cut, 1:59.21. Her teammate Grace Sommerville held onto second with a time of 2:01.36, just squeezing out University of Nebraska Omaha’s Morgan Stepp and her time of 2:01.84.

The last individual swimming event was the men’s 200 fly, which was won by Denver’s Kyle Ewoldt in 1:47.63. Teammate Ben Ussery made his NCAA B cut like Ewoldt, placing second with a time of 1:47.63. Western Illinois University’s Chris Neaveill stole third, touching the wall at 1:48.57, a tenth ahead of Denver’s Scott Bergstrom.

For the women’s three meter diving finals, Greysen Hertting took home her second win of the weekend, scoring 294.10 points for the University of South Dakota and reaching a NCAA Zone diving standard. IUPUI’s Melissa Berger claimed silver with 268.05 points, while Olivia Olesiak of South Dakota State University earned third with a score of 251.15.

The final event for the women was the 400 yard freestyle relay. Denver’s team of Moden (50.66), Malazdrewicz (50.19), Morgan Wice-Roslin (51.45), and Huddleston (50.46) finished first with a time of 3:22.76. IUPUI kept their second place seed, swimming to a time of 3:26.61. The IUPUI squad consisted of Maranda Buha (51.32), Bullard (51.75), Madison Taylor (51.88), and Tori Kroon (51.66). South Dakota State University, made up of Katya Vakshteyn (52.25), Abby Zenner (52.25), Kristin Erf (52.02), and Hadlie Overhue (52.58), slid into third place with a time of 3:29.10, out-touching University of Nebraska Omaha’s relay by five hundredths.

On the men’s side, and concluding the meet, the race between the top three was fairly close. The Denver squad of Luke Williams (45.01), Patrick Guillory (44.24), Loncar (44.42), and Bornman (43.64) touched the wall first with a time of 2:57.31. The IUPUI men, Kuester (44.56), Trenton Wolfe (44.70), Aaron Brysch (44.83), and Jared Allen (44.46) were close behind, finishing with a time of 2:58.55. South Dakota State University’s Bolinske (44.39), Pierce Oja (45.64), Tony Mikrut (45.49), and Daniel Jacobsen (44.10) took home third with a final time of 2:59.62.

Women’s Final Team Standings

Denver – 1066
South Dakota State University – 534.5
University of South Dakota – 490
IUPUI – 489
University of Nebraska Omaha – 424
Eastern Illinois – 213.5
Western Illinois – 169

Men’s Final Team Standings

Denver – 975.5
IUPUI – 642.5
South Dakota State University – 529.5
Western Illinois University – 443
The University of South Dakota – 417
Eastern Illinois University – 229.5

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Todd Schmitz

8 years ago

Brian Schrader had to look at the pic. Not this year.