Four Meets to Watch in NCAA D3 This Weekend

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Photo Courtesy: Stevens Institute of Technology Athletics

By Cathleen Pruden, Swimming World College Intern

NCAA D3 teams continue the exciting action this weekend as a few ranked teams are set to race each other.

Four Top NCAA D3 Meets This Weekend

1. The Hope Quad Meet: Women

Saturday’s Hope Quad Meet will feature Hope, Lake Forest, the 10th ranked Wheaton (IL) Thunder and the 18th ranked Kalamazoo Hornets. Though not ranked, Hope narrowly defeated Kalamazoo at a dual meet early in the fall. Wheaton’s senior star Kirsten Nitz holds the nation leading time in the 100 butterfly, while Kalamazoo’s Colleen Orwin is two seconds behind with the 17th ranked performance. In the 100 breaststroke, the Hornets’ Tristyn Edsall (1:06.46) is within two seconds of the Thunder’s Kayla Roberson (1:06.03) and Erin Bagely (1:04.04), and could have some close races. This meet’s relays could be even more exciting. Kalamazoo’s top 200 medley relay this season has posted a time of 1:45.35, just ahead of Wheaton’s 1:45.71. In the 400 freestyle relay, Wheaton has swum a 3:32.31, Hope a 3:34.98, and Kalamazoo a 3:36.20.

2. Stevens Men Take On JHU

The 12th ranked Stevens Ducks will travel south to the fourth ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays on Saturday. Steven’s Ravi Sun could face the nation’s fastest 200 IMer. Sun’s 1:50.87 performance in December earned him Empire 8 Swimmer of the Week, and he’ll face tough competition in JHU’s Evan Holder (1:46.82). Sun has a nation leading time of his own in the 100 backstroke (48.97), though the Blue Jays’ Jan Hagemeister (50.22) is not far behind. The teams are also less than a second apart in both of the short relays. The Ducks have the edge in the 200 medley relay (1:30.30 to 1:30.37), while the Blue Jays lead the way in the freestyle event (1:22.03 to 1:22.86).

3. Stevens Women vs. JHU

The 14th ranked Stevens women will also travel to Baltimore to race the fifth ranked Blue Jays. Hopkins’ Kaitlin Jones has posted an NCAA B cut time of 1:52.10 in the 200 yard freestyle, and her teammate Emily Cheng (1:54.26) should have tough competition with Stevens’ Danielle Caruso (1:54.13). The 200 butterfly could feature four swimmers who have posted B cuts this season- JHU’s Abby Brown (2:04.73), Courtney Cowan (2:05.54), and Shirley Chan (2:06.24), and Stevens’ Sarah Jurczyk (2:04.92). Another great race could come from Cowan and Caruso in the 500 freestyle as the two are ranked 23rd and 25th so far this season. While the Blue Jays appear to have more depth, the two teams should still see some close races this weekend.

4. Wabash vs. Washington University

The 25th ranked Wabash men will host the eighth ranked Wash U Bears Saturday. Wabash could be battling some exhaustion from a meet the night before, but the two ranked teams should still see some exciting swims. In the 200 freestyle, Wabash’s Elliot Johns (1:40.22) is just faster than Wash U’s Justin Morrell (1:40.35). The 500 freestyle could be another close race among three different athletes. The Bears’ Luke Dobben (4:31.86) and Andrew Ellison (4:33.82) are on either side of Wabash’s Jack Belford (4:33.28). Three swimmers with NCAA B cuts should race in the 200 breaststroke. Wash U’s Michael Lagieski (2:00.45) and Reese Frerichs (2:02.84) are just ahead of Wabash’s Zechariah Banks (2:03.43).

The CSCAA’s Top 25 Schedule:

Men

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Women

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Amy Marie Bahr

8 years ago

Joe Acquaviva