Top Teams Flex Muscles in Weekend Dual Action

By Emily Sampl

BOULDER, Colorado, November 8. SEVERAL teams hoping to contend for NCAA championship team titles in March gave the competition something to think about, posting fast times across the board this weekend. Here are some highlights from the past three days of racing.

Stanford, Michigan and Florida participated in a two-day tri-meet in Gainesville, and numerous headline swims took place. Emily Brunemann swam a great mid-season mile, finishing in 16:11.67, over 20 seconds under the NCAA B-cut.

Stanford's Julia Smit picked up right where she left off last season with dominating performances in multiple events. Smit swam a 1:57.04 in the 200 IM, less than a second off the A-cut of 1:56.13 and easily the fastest time of anyone this season. She then held off Florida's Gemma Spofforth in the 200 back, 1:55.71-1:56.96. In the 400 IM, Smit outdistanced the field by nine seconds, winning in 4:09.11, only two seconds off the A-cut. Finally, Smit closed out her meet with a 49.45 in the 100 free, good enough for first and an NCAA B-cut.

Kate Dwelley also had a strong meet for the Cardinal, winning the 200 free (1:47.52) and 100 fly (54.19). Elizabeth Smith added wins in the 100 (1:03.34) and 200 (2:13.52) breast. Melanie Costa-Schmid won the 200 and 500 freestyles in 1:48.01 and 4:47.61 for the Gators.

The Texas Longhorns picked up a point for their school in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown with a convincing win over Texas A&M on Friday. Swimmers from both schools swam quite a few exceptional times at the meet. Texas's Kathleen Hersey and A&M's Kristen Heiss raced down to the wire in the 200 free, with Hersey coming out ahead 1:46.80-1:47.16. Hersey went on to win two more events: the 100 fly (53.77) and 200 IM (1:59.12), while Heiss claimed the 200 back in 1:57.88.

Julia Wilkinson and Tess Simpson followed with a 1-2 finish for A&M in the 100 back in times of 54.26 and 55.17. Wilkinson also won the 100 free with a 49.71. Alia Atkinson kept the ball rolling for the Aggies with a win in the 100 breast (1:01.49) and then made it a double with a superb 2:11.85 in the 200. Sophomore Leah Gingrich won three events for the Longhorns: the 1,000 free (9:49.06), 200 fly (1:58.08) and 500 free (4:48.19).

Arizona's season finally got underway in a tri-meet with Wisconsin and UNLV. Several Wildcat swimmers won multiple events. Cory Chitwood picked up wins in the backstrokes in times of 49.40 and 1:47.90, Whitney Lopus won the 100 (55.29) and 200 (2:02.63) fly, Jordan Smith won the 50 (20.42) and 100 free (45.39) and Carl Mickelson won the 100 (55.81) and 200 (2:04.53) breast.

Notably, Florida transfer Clark Burckle made his debut as a member of the Wildcats, finishing third in the 200 fly (1:51.84) and exhibitioning the 200 breast (2:03.66) and 200 IM (1:53.30). Maggie Meyer won the 100 and 200 back for Wisconsin (54.41 and 1:59.50).

Two of the top Division III schools faced off on Saturday, as Kenyon and Denison met in a much anticipated dual meet in Gambier, Ohio. The Kenyon men left no doubt about who the top team is, claiming all 11 swimming events in dominating fashion. Ian Stewart-Bates posted an NCAA B-cut in the 200 free with a winning time of 1:42.80, just ahead of Denison's Dan Thurston (1:42.83). Michael Mpitsos nailed down a B-cut of his own with a 51.38 effort in the 100 back, only .01 ahead of Denison's Robert Barry.

Meanwhile, the Denison women came out ahead in their dual behind several strong performances. Alyssa Swanson and Olivia Zaleski posted two B-cuts apiece; Swanson won the 200 free (1:53.18) and 100 free (52.51), while Zaleski touched first in the 50 free (24.29) and 100 back (58.06). Gail Blachly added a win in the 100 breast with a 1:06.77. For Kenyon, Anna Connolly (200 IM, 2:09.44), Lauren Brady (100 fly, 57.56) and Dominique Chevalier (500 free, 5:05.40) won individual events in B-cuts as well.

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