Division III Recap: Whitman Women, Whitworth Men Win NWC Titles

In the final weekend before Division III conference championships are in full swing, there were a few more dual meets and some fast swimming kicking off. Johns Hopkins, Emory and Tufts began their Championship seasons while the Northwest Conference crowned conference champions.

Blue Jays Fly South

This weekend Johns Hopkins attended the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill and Durham, NC. This meet kicks off the Independent school’s championship season, as they’ll also race in two weeks in their home invite before moving onto NCAAs.

There were some quick swims for the Blue Jays. Riley Mears swam a 4:34.28 500 freestyle, a season best by two seconds. He also went a 15:50.64 in the 1650. That time is just faster than last year’s NCAA Invited mark which Mears was short of then, but time will tell if it is enough this year.

Two Blue Jays went NCAA B cut 400 IMs, Christopher Arena (3:58.54) and Erik Bostrom (3:59.43).

Marcelo Lauzurique went a 56.75 100 breaststroke. Bostromand Matthew Garza were second and third in the 200 fly in 1:52.53 and 1:53.85.

Kristen Alicea-Jorgensen finished third overall in the 50 free, stopping the clock in 23.66. In the 100 free she touched in 51.93.

Natalia Rincon was third in the 100 fly in 56.90. Sophia Girgenti and Carmela Irato were fifth and sixth in the 200 free in 1:54.22 and 1:54.64. Girgenti went a 52.92 in the 100 free.

Calvin Sweeps Hope

The Calvin women out raced #25 Hope 177-123. The #12 Calvin men won 168 to 122.

Calvin’s Anna Serino cruised to a winning 1000 in 10:56.26. She tackled a tough double, hopping back up for the 200 free, where Hope’s Meg Peel was relentless and used a strong final 50 to get to the wall in 1:56.35, a half second ahead of Serino in 1:56.72. Serino came back to win the 500 with a 5:20.70.

Calvin also picked up wins from Hannah Chao in the 100 back (59.30) and 100 free (54.19).

Hope’s Erin Emmert won a close 200 fly in 2:12.04. Her teammate Emma Schaefer won the 200 IM in 2:11.16 and the 100 (1:07.91) and 200 (2:28.15) breaststrokes.

Hope’s Daniel Keith stepped up to race Calvin’s Julian Iturbe and he prevailed, out touching Iturbe 1:41.57 to 1:41.70 in the 200 free. Keith also won the 100 free with a 46.81. His teammate Dan Clyde cleared two minutes to win the 200 fly in 1:58.67. Iturbe later won a comfortable victory in the 500 free with a 4:48.93.

Ben Holstege of Calvin rattled off another impressive 100 back in 51.62, winning by nearly three seconds.

Full results here.

The Northwest Conference

Due to weather the meet was forced to cut down to timed finals on Sunday. The Whitman women and Whitworth men took home the Conference titles early Sunday afternoon.

Pudget Sound’s Kelli Callahan was named women’s swimmer of the meet while the men ended up with three co-swimmers of the meet: Whitworth’s Ryan Grady and Byron Rossmiller, and Linfield’s Noah Cutting.

Callahan won the 200 IM in 2:05.25. She came back the next day in the 400 IM to essentially ensure herself an NCAA invite, with a 4:26.70. In a remarkable double Callahan hopped back up and won the 200 freestyle, with just the 100 fly as a breather. She touched in 1:52.33 to earn an NCAA B cut and another win.

Grady won the 200 breaststroke in a meet record time of 2:00.57, seven seconds ahead of second place. In a testament to his versatility, that swim ended a weekend that began with a 500 freestyle victory. Friday he started things off with a 4:33.66 500 free, before winning a narrow finals victory in 4:36.06. Grady also topped the 100 breaststroke in 55.95.

Rossmiller edged his teammate for the 200 backstroke title, winning the event in 1:50.44. In the 400 IM he had a close race again, claiming the title by under a second in 4:11.04. Also pulling off a double on Saturday night, Rossmiller won a close 100 back in 50.55, two tenths ahead of the runner up.

Cutting was under the 2018 Invited time in the 200 fly with a 1:48.51. He also cleared last year’s invited mark with a 48.67 100 fly. The junior was also first to the wall in the 200 IM with a 1:52.42.

Other Swims of Note

The Pomona-Pitzer Invite turned out to be round two of the cross-street rivalry meet with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and a preview of the SCIAC’s top teams. It was a relay heavy meet with Pomona-Pitzer fielding the whole way through an L relay in the mixed 200 freestyle relay that ended the meet. Sagehen sophomore Kate Denend shone in the 100 free with a winning 53.77. Four men broke a minute in the 100 breast, including three from CMS, led by Walter Limm in 58.25. His teammates Matthew Waddell and Kyrellos Ibrahim were moving in the 500 free, with times of 4:45.38 and 4:48.66, respectively.
Tufts’ non-conference squad swam at the Boston University Winter Open this week. There freshman Ethan Webster posted a 1:50.07 200 backstroke. That time was just .03 off the NCAA B cut and moves him to second in the NESCAC this year. His classmate Devon French posted the fastest 100 fly the NESCAC has seen this year, a 50.30.
Emory freshman Cailen Chinn went a 1:52.69 in the 200 freestyle at the Auburn Invite. She was also 52.19 in the 100 free. Senior Eagle Hannah Baratz swam a 56.35 in the 100 back.

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