NCAA Division III Weekend Preview: Coast Guard vs. Wheaton Kicks Off NEWMAC Competition

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Meet of the Week: Coast Guard vs. Wheaton (Friday, 6pm at Coast Guard)

The 2016-17 season is about to take off for the NEWMAC Conference this weekend. MIT will face Springfield and Wellesley, and WPI will take on Babson, Smith and Wheaton. The Lyons will also compete in this week’s Swimming World Meet of the Week: Coast Guard vs. Wheaton. At last year’s dual, Coast Guard got the upper hand 156-144. They finished fourth at the NEWMAC Championships in 2016 with 607 points followed closely by fifth-place Wheaton with 588 points. MIT and Springfield have regularly dominated the NEWMAC Conference on the women’s side, but these two teams traditionally are fighting for the next top spots.

Coast Guard won both the 400 medley relay and the 200 free relay by about one tenth of a second at last year’s meet, which is what essentially sealed the deal. There will be very few changes to these relay line ups this year, and expect Wheaton’s Aleza Epstein and Coast Guard’s Addy Rutkoske to play major roles in the medley relay to start off the meet.

Epstein will then most likely take on Coast Guard’s Kristen Young in one or both of the sprint freestyle events. Last year, Epstein clipped the 50 while Young stole the 100. If either one of these women can win both these events, that would be a huge swim for their respective team. Jenna Hayden will also be in the mix, depending on where Coach Barrett Roberts decides to swim his women. Hayden (51.84), Young (52.85) and Epstein (53.01) placed third, fourth and fifth in the 100 free at last season’s NEWMAC Championships. These three women could also be competitive in the 100 back or 100 fly as well.

Coast Guard is likely to dominate the distance freestyle events after taking first and second place in both the 500 and 1,000 free last year. Both Christine McCulla and Maddie Heist return this season. Wheaton will look to divers Katherine Conway and Tori Popstein to offset these points and score big on both boards.

The other individual race to watch will be the 200 breast. Rutkoske will battle Wheaton’s Rowan Rice and Molly Gibson to win this event like she did last year. All three women are sophomores and competed in this event at NEWMACs. While Rutkoske took the 200 in last year’s dual, Rice came out on top between these three at the end of last year with a 2:26.61. Rutoske was close behind in 2:27.63 and will most likely take the 100 breast with ease.

Aside from diving, everything went right last year for Coast Guard. But a creative lineup and a few fast finishes could give Wheaton a chance to make a big move in the NEWMAC early on this season.

Other meets to watch:

Photo Courtesy: St. Thomas Swimming

Saint Olaf vs. St. Thomas

This will certainly be a meet to watch on both the men’s and women’s sides. Last season, the St. Olaf men came out on top 153-145 while the women bested St. Thomas 146-134. The meet will feature 2016 three-time NCAA Champion Emma Paulson. Paulson was victorious in the 50 free, 100 back and 200 back in Greensboro last March. She will definitely be used in some combination of these and most likely two relays. She may also be used in the 100 free to battle St. Olaf senior Claire Walters who will give Paulson a run for her money.

The other swimmer to watch on the women’s side is St. Thomas’ Katelyn Strauss. Strauss can challenge any St. Olaf swimmer in a middle distance freestyle or fly event and has the potential to score big points for St. Thomas. Strauss competed in the 200 fly and the 800 free relay at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

On the men’s side, there may not be as many nail-biting races, but both teams have the ability to put up some fast swims this weekend. St. Thomas has graduated All-Americans Thomas Osmolak and Michael Lanz, but they return NCAA qualifiers Warren Melton and Bailey Biwer.

St. Olaf will be led by a strong breaststroke group in Nate France and Peter Reynolds. France will combine with sophomore Abe Casey to attack the sprint free and back events and make an impact on both relays. The relays will definitely be two of the most exciting races to watch on the men’s side as the teams split these events last year.

Gustavus Adolphus vs. UW-Stevens Point, Minnesota-Mankato

Both Gustavus Adolphus and UW-Stevens Point have a history of sending swimmers to the NCAA Championships. For the women, Honorable Mention All-American Kathleen Reilly and NCAA qualifier Nicole Lohman will compete this weekend for Gustavus Adolphus. Both women competed in the 100 freestyle, which will shows the strength Gustavus Adolphus will have in the relays and sprint events.

On the men’s side, UW-Stevens Point returns four of their five NCAA qualifiers from 2016. Sophomore Nate Somers should lead the way in the distance free events after competing in the 500, 1,000 and 400 IM at NCAAs as a freshman. He will be joined by sprinters Jack Englehardt, Andrew King and James Donnellan. Stevens Point has a very young team, but a fast one at that. They will lead their team over Gustavus Adolphus in the overall team scores.

While these duals may not come down to the last relay, expect to see some fast swims out of both teams.

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