Division III Recap: MIT Continues NEWMAC Title Streaks

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The MIT men won the NEWMAC title for the eleventh straight year while the women claimed their ninth straight. Continuing their upward trends from last year, the men from the US Coast Guard Academy finished second and the women from Wheaton College were runner up.

Men

Jack Bauer of WPI was named the Swimmer of the Year. He finished third in the 100 fly with a 49.01. That was the front end of a difficult double, as Bauer got back up just two events later to win the 100 backstroke in a meet record time of 48.08. On Sunday he won the 200 backstroke in a NEWMAC record time of 1:45.17, the number two time in the country this year. Wheaton senior Jacob Cost was runner up in both backstrokes (48.76, 1:48.24).

MIT’s Jordan Ren earned Rookie of the Year honors after a runner up performance in the 200 IM (1:50.95), winning the 400 IM (3:58.14), and touching second in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.32). His junior teammate Bouke Edskes was a triple winner, taking the 200 IM in 1:49.18, after setting a meet record time of 1:48.94 in prelims. Edskes also won the 100 fly in a meet record time of 48.08 and the 200 fly with a 1:48.72.

The Engineers picked up another win from freshman Alex Ellison. He topped the 200 freestyle in 1:40.58, just .03 faster than Coast Guard’s freshman Devin McClure (1:40.61). McClure won the 500 free in 4:30.36, just out touching MIT’s NEWMAC record holder Josh Graves in 4:30.95. Graves went onto win the 1650 in 15:43.04.

MIT junior Sam Ubellacker raced to a winning time of 20.30 in the 50 free. Coast Guard’s Joseph Rodriguez was runner up in 20.42. Rodriguez pulled off the upset in the 100 free, out touching Ubellacker 45.57 to 45.61 to win the event.

Coast Guard went one-two in the 100 breaststroke with sophomore Eric Fuhs (55.38) and senior Chasse Sodemann (55.41). Fuhs was also first to the wall in the 200 with a 2:01.90.

MIT’s Edskes, Ren, Kevin Fang, and Ellison won the 800 freestyle relay in 6:41.45. Kyri ChenJustin LiuEmilio Sison, and Ubellacker were first to the wall in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:20.99. The Engineers made it a sweep of the freestyle relays with Ellison, Nicholas Baginski, Sison, and Ubellacker touching in 3:01.89 to win the 400 freestyle relay.

Edskes, Brandon McKenzie, Ubellacker, and Liu won the 200 medley relay in 1:29.51, just two tenths ahead of Coast Guard’s Patrick Jackson, Sodemann, Tyler Dominick, and Rodriguez in 1:29.74.

WPI prevented MIT from winning every relay as Bauer, Dave Chen Jackson Perry, and Craig Barrett topped the 400 medley relay in 3:17.61, almost a second ahead of the Engineers.

Women

Wheaton’s Lydia Dacorte was named Swimmer of the Year after winning the 500 free, 400 IM, and 1650 free all in dominant fashion. In the 500 free she was the only woman under five minutes, setting a new meet record of 4:53.52. She was a touch off her December time of 4:25 in the 400 IM, but was still first to the wall, touching in 4:26.78. Dacorte ran away with the mile, stopping the clock in 16:58.20.

MIT’s Laura Rosado was named Rookie of the Year. She was first to the wall in the 200 backstroke in a dominating 2:00.99, nearly five seconds ahead of her second place teammate Ashley Pearson (2:05.51). Rosado also won the 100 backstroke in 56.64, while fellow freshman Engineer Jenny Yu placed second (58.01). Rosado was also fifth in the 400 IM in 4:33.89.

The Engineers also added wins in the breaststroke events behind Sara Nicholas with a 1:04.37 in the 100 and a 2:21.61 in the 200. Springfield’s senior Olivia Paione was runner up in both (1:05.83, 2:23.57).

Coast Guard’s Sarah Passilla won the 200 IM with a 2:05.74. Her senior teammate Kristen Durham-Young was first to the wall in the 200 freestyle with a 1:51.89. She was third in the 100 in 52.46 behind a pair of MIT freshman Lindsey Bjornstad (52.20) and Shannon Hagmaier (52.31). Hagmaier (23.76) and Bjornstad (23.82) were one-two in the 50 free.

Wellesley first year Jessica Wegner defended her top seed, winning the 100 fly in 56.88. MIT’s sophomore Kailey Allen defended her NEWMAC title in the 200 fly, getting to the wall first in 2:04.26.

Coast Guard’s most impressive relay performance of the weekend came in the 800 freestyle relay where the team of Passilla (1:51.65), Durham-Young (1:51.79), Emily Benson (1:53.82), and Josie McGuire (1:53.83) combined for a winning time of 7:31.09, well under the NCAA Invited mark.

MIT was back on top of the relays in the 200 freestyle relay as Hagmaier, Lara KetonenLilia Staszel, and Bjornstad raced to a comfortable victory in 1:34.65. Bjornstad, Rosado, Satszel, and Hagmaier clocked a 3:28.08 to win the 400 freestyle relay.

Yu, Nicholas, Olivia McGrath, and Bjornstad took the 200 medley relay title for MIT in a time of 1:44.35. Yu, Nicholas, Mahaffey, and Hagmaier made it a relay sweep with a 3:48.67 in the 400 medley relay.

Full results here.

Team Scores

Men

1. Massachusetts Institute of Tec 1477.5

2. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 1179.5

3. Worcester Polytechnic Institut 857

4. Babson College 498

5. Wheaton College (Ma) 476

6. Springfield College 475

7. Clark University 219

Women

1. Massachusetts Institute of Tec 1281

2. Wheaton College (Ma) 908

3. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 724

4. Springfield College 651

5. Wellesley College 608

6. Worcester Polytechnic Institut 605

7. Babson College 272

8. Mount Holyoke College 253

9. Clark University 242

10. Smith College 228

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