Division III Weekly Recap: Kenyon and Chicago Pave The Way For Post-Thanksgiving Invites

Photo Courtesy: Kenyon College Athletics

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With the first round of November invitationals finished, the Division III landscape is still very much the same. Kenyon and Chicago were the only top ten Division III swim teams in action at invitationals this past weekend as NYU and Johns Hopkins competed head to head in a duel meet, rather than an invite. The rest of the major Division III teams (Denison, Emory, MIT, Wash U) will be in action at invitationals after Thanksgiving.

The Kenyon men and women were in action at the Ohio State Invite in Columbus this past weekend where they were the only team outside of Division I at the meet. The Kenyon women had their best swims out of Crile Hart, Julia Wilson and Hannah Orbach-Mandel.

Hart put up the quickest time in Division III in the 200 IM (2:02.83), the 100 back (55.50) and the 200 back (1:58.90) as the freshman has continued her strong first season with the Lady Lords. Hart has been one of the main reasons the Lady Lords are a favorite to win their first national title since 2009.

Wilson is in her senior year for Kenyon and is one of the other big dogs for the women this season. She put up the second fastest 200 IM (2:04.06) behind Hart and swam strong breaststroke times (1:02.39, 2:16.04) as she ranks first in Division III in the 200. Orbach-Mandel had really good swims for Kenyon as well with a 1:49.89 in the 200 free and a 4:56.13 in the 500 to lead the nation in both. These three girls for Kenyon have created a strong nucleus that could propel them to a national title.

Despite the elite competition from NC State, Ohio State and Kentucky, Kenyon still had a good meet in Columbus. The men are coming off a loss to bitter rival Denison last week, but still swam well at their invite thanks to their freestylers.

The Kenyon men are still young, so they should not be counted out in future years. This past weekend they were led by sophomore Connor Rumpit, freshman Tim Hagemeister and junior Jon Zimdars. Rumpit and Hagemeister are first and third in Division III in the 500 so far with Rumpit (4:27.33) leading the way ahead of his freshman teammate (4:31.67). The two are also first and second in Division III in the mile with Rumpit (15:43.79) also leading the nation ahead of Hagemeister (15:51.53).

Junior Zimdars put up the number two time in the country in the 200 fly on the last day of the Ohio State Invite with a 1:49.70. He sits only behind Chicago’s Michael Todd (1:48.65).

Chicago won its own Phoenix Fall Classic ahead of a much improved DePauw team. Albert Litschgi was the high performer for Chicago with his massive 1:46.20 to lead the rest of Division III by three seconds. Litschgi won UAA Swimmer of the Week for his swims this weekend. Litschgi also swam a quick 100 back at 48.70 to lead Division III there as well.

Two of the fastest 100 breasts came out of the Phoenix Fall Classic as well with DePauw’s Sam McManus (54.31) and Chicago’s Reona Yamaguchi (54.98). McManus also had the fastest 200 of the season with his 1:59.86. Chicago had the next three fastest 200 breasts with Lance Culjat (2:02.10), Yamaguchi (2:02.37) and Alexander Qu (2:02.47) showing off some impressive breaststroke depth.

The Chicago women finished first in the Phoenix Fall Classic thanks to impressive swims by Nadia Redza, Hadley Ackerman and Margaret Wolfson. Wolfson was UAA Swimmer of the Week thanks to her performance in the 200 breast (2:17.99), leaving her third in Division III.

Ackerman’s 100 fly (56.00) puts her at number two in the country while Redza leads the nation in the 400 IM (4:28.00).

Other fast times from the first round of invites:

50 free: Emmie Mirus, Kenyon, 23.58
100 free: Lindsay Hagmann, Trinity, 51.20
100 back: Gillian Gagnard, Chicago, 56.06
200 back: Gillian Gagnard, Chicago, 2:00.52
100 breast: Rehgan Hartsell, Southwestern, 1:03.63
200 free relay: Kenyon, 1:34.66
400 medley relay: Kenyon, 3:45.40
200 medley relay: Kenyon, 1:43.37
800 free relay: Kenyon, 7:30.09
400 free relay: Kenyon, 3:25.58

50 free: Chris Schiavone, Franklin & Marshall, 20.61
100 free: Jacob Davis, Saint Vincent, 44.85
200 free: Taye Baldinazzo, Chicago, 1:39.07
500 free: Taye Baldinazzo, Chicago, 4:28.44
100 back: Ben Baturka, Kenyon, 49.37
100 breast: Christian March, Frostburg State, 55.83
200 breast: Christian March, Frostburg State, 2:02.96
100 fly: Zuhayr Pigot, Whittier, 48.81
200 IM: Noah Young, Birmingham Southern, 1:50.89
400 IM: Patrick Dunne, Birmingham Southern, 3:59.53
200 free relay: Chicago, 1:22.59
400 medley relay: Chicago, 3:16.87
200 medley relay: Chicago, 1:31.09
800 free relay: Kenyon, 6:42.35
400 free relay: Chicago, 3:03.15

November 13 recap

November 6 recap

October 30 recap

October 23 recap

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