Division III Recap: MIT Men, Williams Women Win Big In Meet With NYU

With snow storm Harper hitting much of the northeast late Saturday and into Sunday, a few NCAA Division III meets were pushed off to Monday afternoon. Check back later in the week for a recap on that action, including a highly anticipated dual meet between Case Western and SUNY Geneseo.

MIT Men Dominant, Williams Women Secure Two Victories

In a battle of three top 20 teams (top ten teams on the women’s side), the MIT men and Williams women were both double winners in a meet with NYU at MIT on Friday afternoon.

Men’s Meet

MIT 207 vs. Williams 87
MIT 207 vs. NYU 93
NYU 155 vs. Williams 139

The number six Engineers were so dominant they took first and second in the 400 Medley Relay, with Tim Krajl, Brandon McKenzie, Bouke Edskes, and Sam Ubellacker posting a 3:24.46 for the A squad. MIT also went one-two in the 100 backstroke, with freshmen Kyri Chen (51.36) and Jaya Kambhampaty (51.48). McKenzie edged NYU’s Keven Shang 58.67 to 58.83 for the 100 breaststroke victory.

Edskes ran away with the 200 fly in 1:50.97 and the 100 fly in 49.72. He also stretched up to the 400 IM, clocking a 4:03.76, two seconds faster than teammate Jordan Ren in 4:05.80.

MIT took the top three spots in the 50 free, with Ubellacker first to the wall in 21.07. The Engineers also swept the 100 free, led by Alex Ellison in 46.67. Sophomore teammate Henry Hu posted a 1:52.47 200 backstroke to win the event by two seconds.

NYU’s Graham Chatoor won the 1650 in 15:55.72, but #19 Williams’ Jackson Karofsky (16:02.58) and Andrew Trunsky (16:06.50) also put up some quick times for mid-January. Their teammate James Lovette won the 200 freestyle in 1:42.12, just ahead of a trio of MIT swimmers. Lovette out touched Chatoor 4:39.49 to 4:40.58 to win the 500 free.

Justin Lum got another win for #9 NYU with his 2:06.54 200 breaststroke.

MIT ended the meet in the top two spots again in the 200 freestyle relay, with Kyri Chen, Emilio Sison, Liu, and Ubellacker leading the A team with a 1:23.32.

Photo Courtesy: NYU Sports Information

Women’s Meet

Williams 190.5 vs. NYU 107.5
Williams 175.5 vs. MIT 122.5
NYU 152 vs. MIT 148

The sixth ranked Williams squad opened the meet with a 400 medley relay victory from Abby Matheny, Caroline White, Maia Hare, and Laura Westphal in 3:53.74, less than a second ahead of NYU in 3:54.45. Westphal’s 51.39 second freestyle anchor was the difference maker. NYU and Williams’ distance prowess was evident in the 1650, but the Violets’ freshman Rachel Reistroffer was first to the wall in 17:33.33.

Westphal won the 200 free by over a second in 1:54.08, the 100 by a half second in 52.77, and the 500 by three seconds in 5:03.15. It was all White in the breaststrokes, as the junior All-American clocked a 1:05.71 to win the 100 and a 2:22.14 to dominate the 200. Her teammates Molly Craig (2:06.79) and Veronica Wolff (2:07.67) went one-two in the 200 fly. Craig was also dominant in the 400 IM, clocking a 4:26.19.

Williams also went one-two in the 100 fly with Anna Peterson (58.36) and Hare (58.39).

NYU (ranked fourth) went one-two in the 100 backstroke with May Li (58.21) and Emily Fung (58.70).

Number seven MIT’s sprint crew was led by two freshmen in the 50: Lara Ketonen (24.69) and Shannon Hagmaier (24.74) who were first and second. The quartet of Lindsay Bjornstad, Lila Staszel, Hagmaier, and Ketonen combined to win the 200 freestyle relay by nearly two seconds with a time of 1:37.72.

The 200 backstroke had a matchup of two rookies who will likely meet again in an NCAA final in March. MIT’s Laura Rosado got to the wall first in 2:04.72, ahead of Williams’ Matheny in 2:05.20.

Full results.

Colby-Bates-Bowdoin

Photo Courtesy: Cathleen Pruden

Friday night in Lewiston, ME, the #23 Bowdoin women beat the #25 Bates women by a score of 171 to 125. The Bowdoin men outscored the Bobcats 184 to 116. The races were a bit closer than the scores suggest. Saturday morning Bates travelled to Colby College, where they were upset by the Colby men (173 to 127), while the Bobcat women cruised to a 158 to 135 victory over the Mules.

On Friday night Bates went one-two in the women’s 200 medley relay with Janika Ho, Emmy Daigle, Caroline Apathy, and Caroline Sweeney winning in 1:49.20. The Polar Bears evened things up with a sweep of the 1000, led by Kathleen Kemp in 10:46.69.

Bowdoin senior Sterling Dixon posted the second fastest 200 free time in the country this week, a 1:52.96. Bates’ Maya Reynoso-Williams edged Bowdoin’s Kate Fosburgh 1:54.89 to 1:54.98 for second place points. Reynoso-Williams put together another great race in the 500 free, flying home in the final 100 to win the event in 5:09.92, ahead of Fosburgh in 5:11.06.

Bates swept the 50 backstroke and took the top two spots in the 50 breaststroke. The 100 fly was also down to the touch between two sophomores. Bowdoin’s Mary Laurita was out in 27.36, just .01 ahead of Bates’ Apathy in 27.37. Both women came home in 30.06, giving Laurita the victory, 57.42 to 57.43, as the duo swam Division III’s third and fourth fastest times of the week. Laurita also topped Apathy in the 50 fly, 26.05 to 26.21.

The Polar Bears got another narrow victory in the 50 free, when Amanda Banasiak touched in 24.77. The senior was then third in a Bowdoin sweep of the 100 free, led by Laurita in 54.09. Laurita, Banasiak, Marshall Lowery, and Dixon won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:38.04, a half second faster than Bates in 1:38.52.

The Bowdoin men won both relays, taking the 200 medley by just two tenths as Justin Yang, Michael Tirone, Jacob Baltaytis, and Drew Macdonald went a 1:36.17. Following the lead from their women, the men swept the 1000, led by Daniel Williams in 9:56.25. In the 500 Bowdoin’s Coleman Komishane out touched Bates’ Alexander Ignatov 4:48.74 to 4:48.87, despite Ignatov’s final 50 yard push.

Bowdoin’s Karl Sarier won the 200 (1:44.27) and 100 (47.31) freestyle. Bowdoin freshmen Yang and Ted Mebust went one-two in both backstrokes in 24.38 and 24.49, and 53.14 and 53.18, just beating Bates freshman Daniel Waterland in both (24.92, 53.52).

Bates’ Alex Bedard swam the country’s eighth fastest 100 breaststroke of the weekend, a 57.97 to pick up first place points. Bedard also raced a 53.71 to win the 100 IM over Sarier.

Friday night’s meet ended in a close race, as Bowdoin out touched Bates by .03 to win the 200 freestyle relay, 1:27.96 to 1:27.99.

Photo Courtesy: Josh Kuckens/ Bates College

Saturday Bates’ men couldn’t quite back bounce back from Friday night, and the Mules put together some impressive races to down the Bobcats. Colby sophomore Ryan Bedell won the 1000 (9:50.49) and the 500 (4:47.56) freestyles.

His teammates John Connors (1:45.38) and Wyatt Fritz (1:48.61) went one-two in the 200 freestyle. Connors also won the 50 free (22.21), just a tenth ahead of Bates’ Pieter Cory (22.32). In the 100 it was again Connors (47.52) and Cory (48.08).

Xander Geiersbach added a 100 backstroke victory for Colby, touching in 53.27 ahead of Waterland in 53.92. He also won the 200 in 1:55.76 to Waterland’s 1:56.93.

While not as fast as Friday night, Bedard did pick up a win for Bates in the 100 breaststroke with a 58.79, and freshman Andrew Hall added a win in the 200 fly, touching in 1:58.27, just .04 ahead of Colby’s Darrel Choi. Bedard couldn’t quite hold on in the 200 breaststroke, finishing in 2:11.98, just behind Colby’s Max Babej in 2:11.71.

Colby ended the meet with one more victory, taking the 200 freestyle relay in 1:27.60, a full half second ahead of Bates.

Colby will travel to Bowdoin on Saturday, February 2 to complete Colby-Bates-Bowdoin competition.

Full Bates vs. Bowdoin results.

Full Bates vs. Colby results.

Other Notable Swims

St. Kate’s freshman Maggie Menso swam a 1:51.22 200 freestyle at the Grinnell Invitational. That’s a lifetime best and the 10th fastest time in Division III so far this year. Her teammate Jordyn Wentzel went a lifetime best 55.72 100 fly, good for fifth in the NCAA. In the 200 fly Wentzel raced to a 2:03.44, a new lifetime best that’s also the fourth best time in Division III this season. She also popped a 51.14 in the 100 free to move to 10th in the country.
In a quad-meet with Stevens, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, and Rowan, Rowan senior Miranda Coughlan was flying through the sprint freestyles, touching in 52.33 in the 100 free and 24.36 in the 50 free, both among the five fastest times in Division III this weekend.
Also in New Jersey this weekend, Johns Hopkins’ Emma McElrath won the 500 free in 5:01.99, a quick time, but speed the sophomore has shown she’s capable of in-season. Just on her tail however, was Stevens’ Izzy Fairman in 5:02.02. That’s a lifetime best for the junior.
Rhodes College senior Allie Hill swam a 2:06.90 200 backstroke at a dual meet against Sewanee. While that’s a ways off her best, it’s her second best ever dual meet time, a good sign for a senior looking for her fourth straight NCAA Invite. Hill also set the SAA Conference record in the 100 IM, with a time of 59.95.

Photo Courtesy: John Valenzuela

Aaron Lutzker, a senior at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps raced to a 2:03.29 in the 200 breaststroke in a meet against Redlands.
Swarthmore senior Jeffrey Tse posted his fourth best ever 200 IM time, a 1:53.11, to beat a Johns Hopkins duo of Matt McGough and Max Chen on Saturday. Tse also went a lifetime best 56.39 to win the 100 breaststroke.
The Amherst men are carrying momentum from their pre-training trip win over Williams. Racing Connecticut College on Saturday, junior Eric Wong posted a 1:42.27 200 freestyle and his classmate Craig Smith swam a 1:52.72 200 backstroke, while fellow junior Sean Mebust was 2:05.99 in the 200 breaststroke. All three of those are the second fastest times in the country this weekend.
In a rivalry meet between the US Coast Guard Academy and the US Merchant Marine Academy, the men’s 100 breaststroke came down to the touch as Coast Guard’s Eric Fuhs stopped the clock in 57.55 to USMMA’s Nolan Monahan in 57.70.

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