Liberal Arts Conference Championship Meet Recap

Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @CoeAthletics

By Grace Nordquist, Swimming World College Intern.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The four-day 2019 Liberal Arts Conference Championships Meet concluded this Saturday, February 16. Eleven teams competed on the women’s side and nine on the men’s. The conference features all NCAA Division lll teams with the exception of Morningside College and College of Saint Mary. Among the co-ed teams were Illinois Tech, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Coe, Morningside, Luther, Loras, Simpson, Principia, and the women’s teams; Mills, College of Saint Mary, and Minnesota-Morris

Events started Wednesday, February 13, with the 800 free relays as timed finals, followed by the women’s 1 meter diving. Coe College women started the LAC meet off not only winning but also breaking a 30-year-old school record. The previous record set in 1986 with a 7:58.07 was broken by the team of Sammi Hall, Tracy Martinek, Darby Manternach, and Alanna Thompson with a time of 7:56.14. Nebraska Wesleyan’s men’s team took first with a time of 7:06.81. In the 1 meter diving portion of the meet, Coe’s Monic Douglass placed third with 317.10 points, Tary Longshore of Minnesota-Morris in second with 351.65, and Mikaela Lengwin of Loras stood on top of the podium with 450.45 points.

Photo Courtesy: Grace Nordquist

Prelims began at 10 a.m. with finals beginning at 6 p.m Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Thursday Competition Final Results

The event lineup for Thursday’s competition was the following: men’s and momen’s 200 free relays, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 free, 400 medley relays, and men’s 3 meter diving competed. Coe’s women’s 200 free relay team of Katie Freeland, Manternach, Hall and Thompson would clench first yet again with a 1:37.74. Nebraska Wesleyan’s men’s 200 free Relay of Carter Lyons, Tommy Ernst, Braly Keller, and Nolan Reid touched first with a 1:25.42. Illinois Tech’s Katy Lydon would take first in the 500 free in 5:10.06 and Coe’s Corbin Faidley would just beat Illionois Tech’s Seth Wissenbach, clocking in at 4:43.01. Kristin Wills of Illinois Tech won the 200 IM with a time of 2:12.46 and Carter Lyons on the men’s side with a 1:53.35. In the 50 free Luther would take first on both the men and women’s side. Linn Lee-Brown won the women’s heat with a 24.11 and Everett Kohner the Men’s with a 21.31. Nick Baron won the Men’s 3 meter diving with 372.75 points. The 400 medley relays would conclude the evening with Loras’ women’s team of Jenn Young, Logan Eckhardt, Sarah Shafer, and Tessa Orozco in first with a time of 4:03.59 and Nebraska Wesleyan’s Sam Trofholz, Lyons, Reid, Keller 3:29.02 also in first.

Friday Competition Final Results

Photo Courtesy: Instagram, @samtrofholz

This day’s events featured the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, Women’s 3 meter diving, and 200 medley relays. Illinois Tech’s Kristin Wills touched the wall first with a time of 4:45.84, while Nebraska Wesleyan’s Blazhievskiy would crush the men’s competition in a time of 4:06.42. In the 100 fly, Megan Burrill of Illinois Tech would touch first at 57.80, and Lyons for Nebraska Wesleyan’s men with a 51.33. Illinois Tech would take the 200 free, Lydon winning on the women’s side in a time of 1:56.56 and Escasa on the men’s in 1:43.97. The 100 breast went to Nebraska Wesleyan’s Ciarra Benes in a time of 1:07.18 and Mac Faldet for Loras in 56.70. Sarah Shafer of Loras took the women’s 100 back with a time of 58.27 and Kaleb Donnels on the men’s in 51.35. For the women’s 3 Meter diving, Lengwin of Loras won with 482.30 points. Concluding the evening were the 200 medley relays in which Coe’s Women’s team of Thompson, Caitlin Sievers, Freeland and Manternach would win in a time of 1:49.43. On the men’s side, Nebraska Wesleyan’s team of Trofholz, Lyons, Reid, and Ernst took gold clocking in at 1:34.56.

Saturday Competition Final Results

Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @CoeAthletics

The weekend would conclude with the 1650, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, men’s 1 meter diving, and the 400 free relays. Winning the Women’s 1650 and the only one to break the 18-minute mark was Lydon with a time of 17:49.39. On the men’s side, Miles Thompson of Illinois Tech would clock in at 16:42.81 before Morningside’s Ron Defauw at 16:49.78: the only two to break the 17-minute barrier. Nebraska Wesleyan’s Trofholz clocked in at 1:53.58 in the 200 back to take the title, and Coe’s Hall took the women’s in 2:07.35. Coe’s Manternach won the 100 free in 52.99, and Lyons on the men’s in 46.90. The 200 breast went to Loras’ Mackenzie Faldet with a time of 2:06.54 and Coe’s Katie Freeland in 2:23.47. Ending the individual swimming portion of the meet, the 200 fly went to Coe’s Corbin Faidley in 1:54.96, and Illinois Tech’s Megan Burrill would crush the competition in 2:09.36. Loras’ Baron won the men’s 1 meter diving with 372.80 points.

In the final event of the night, Coe’s women Manternach, Hall, Freeland and Thompson would also take the final win with a time of 3:37.69. Nebraska Wesleyan’s men’s team of Keller, Reid, Trofholz and Lyons would close out winning the 400 free relay in a time of 3:08.56 to claim every relay title on the men’s side.

Team standings were as follows:

Men’s: Nebraska Wesleyan University 1^st (654), Illinois Tech 2^nd (570), Coe College 3^rd(520)
Women’s: Coe College 1^st (606) for the first time in LAC history, Loras 2^nd (430), Illinois Tech 3^rd (415)

Individual Coach & Athlete Awards:

Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @CoeSwim_Dive

Photo Courtesy: Twitter @CoeSwim_Dive

Lydon of Illinois tech took home top female swimmer with 599.7 points, and Lyons took top male with 588.5 points. Loras dominated diving, with both female diver of the meet (Lengwin) and male diver of the meet (Baron). Male Diving Coach of the Meet was Tony Kramer from Coe. The Female Swimming Coach of the Meet went to Brian Ruffles of Coe. Male Swimming Coach of the Meet was awarded to Greg Fleming from Nebraska Wesleyan.

Congratulations to the athletes of the Liberal Arts Championships, and good luck to those preparing for NCAA Championships.

-All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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