Division III Preview: Non-Conference Squads Head to Invites; Hopkins to the Nike Cup

This weekend in Division III there are a handful of lingering dual meets, but most teams have flipped into Championship mode. Johns Hopkins (#4 men, #5 women) will be the biggest name in Championship action, racing at the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup, held at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University Friday through Sunday this weekend.

The Northwest Conference also hosts their Championship in Federal Way from Thursday through Sunday. That conference had a few NCAA Qualifiers last year, and has a few within range to race for an invited time again this year.

Other significant Invites this weekend include Emory at the Auburn Invite, the NYU Invite, Tufts at the BU Invite, and the Pomona-Pitzer Invite. For the most part these meets serve as the championship meet for athletes who do not make their team’s Conference team, though some top athletes may still race a few times, as a final tune up, or a first chance meet.

MIAA Rivalry Time: Calvin vs. Hope

Photo Courtesy: Calvin College Athletics

Michigan rivals Calvin and Hope will wrap up their dual meet seasons with a meet against one another on Saturday. According to rankings the meet appears lopsided, with the Calvin men ranked 12th and the Hope men unranked. The Hope women come in at 25th while the Calvin women, despite starting the PreSeason ranked 16th, didn’t make the latest CSCAA poll.

The women’s meet gets closer when comparing top times to top times. Emily Gunderson and Anna Serino are an absolute sprint force for the Calvin Knights. Hannah Chao is a quick backstroker and the team has a nice breaststroke duo in Samantha Sonday and Anna Kutschke. Meghan Peel gives Hope the leg up in the distance freestyle and is a great match for Chao in the 100 back. Hope has breaststrokers of their own in Emma Schaefer and Aubrey East.

The Calvin men are led by a duo of likely NCAA qualifiers in sprinter/100 backstroker and butterflier Benjamin Holstege, and 200-500 freestyler and 400 IMer Julian Iturbe. Hope doesn’t have as much top end talent, but is led by 100 and 200 freestyler Daniel Keith.

Johns Hopkins’ Hunt to Add NCAA Qualifiers

For most of the Blue Jays the Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup will likely serve as their season ending championship meet. A group of athletes will use this as a second to last chance to qualify for NCAAs (Hopkins is hosting it’s own home invite two weeks later as a true last chance.).

The team appeared to rest for the Bruno Invite in the fall semester and put up some impressive times, many of which should secure NCAA Invites. Some of the Blue Jays may not head to North Carolina this weekend, may not be rested, or may not race a full slate of events.

Junior and 200 freestyle defending national champion Brandon Fabian should be secured an NCAA invite with his 44.12 100 freestyle. Freshmen Collin Hughes and Noah Corbitt are likely secure in their 200 freestyles, and Hughes in his 500.

Emile Kuyl and Dylan Wachenfeld should be set in the backstrokes and freshman Max Chen still leads the country in the 100 breaststroke. Sophomore Matt McGough sits well below last year’s invited 400 IM time. Hopkins should have at least those seven men, and that does not even include relays.

Freshman Sydney Okubo started the fall going NCAA Invite worthy times in dual meets, and has only gotten faster. Fellow first year Rebecca Ssengozi is inching closer to some butterfly qualifying times.

Sonia Lin should be set in the 200 breaststroke and sophomore Emma McElrath is leading the country in the 500 free.

Kristen Petersen and Alison Shapiro are both just under last year’s invited 50 freestyle time, and currently 7th and 10th in the country. These pieces and a few others combine for a few top five relays as well.

The Northwest Conference

Photo Courtesy:

While the Northwest Conference lacks the top end speed and depth of conferences like the UAA, SCIAC, NESCAC, and the NCAC, they did boast a few NCAA qualifiers and All-Americans last year. With an earlier meet than most, those athletes will have to put up a quick time, and hope it stays highly enough ranked to survive the onslaught of later conference championships.

Whitworth Junior Hannah Galbraith leads the conference in the 200 back in 2:06.24 and the 100 back in 57.57. Last year she swam both of those events at NCAAs, and will be looking to qualify again.

Puget Sound junior Kelli Callahan is also looking for a return to Nationals. The IMer leads the conference in the 200 IM (2:08.15) and the 400 IM (4:31.02). She’ll likely need at least a two second drop in each of those to put herself in contention. Seeded behind Callahan in the 200 IM is Pacific Lutheran’s Kaycee Simpson with a season best 2:12.00. Last year at Nationals that event was a bonus for Simpson as she qualified in the 200 fly, where she currently sits 18th nationally in 2:06.06.

Linfield junior Noah Cutting finished 17th in the country last year in the 200 fly (1:50.07). Now, he finds himself third in his own conference, with a 1:56.76 behind a pair of Whitworth freshmen, Logan Todd and Michael Chang. All three have some significant time to drop if they’re going to make a run at an NCAA Invite, but regardless it should be a competitive race for a conference title.

With the graduation of All-American Patrick Wilber, Whitworth’s Byron Rossmiller moves to the top of the Conference in the backstrokes. He’s already been a 1:50.67 in the 200 back, after going a 1:53.99 at NCAA prelims last year.

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