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Swimmers primed for conference meet
Release Date: February 10, 2009
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
If Monmouth
College swim coach Dave Yez is correct, his Fighting Scots could do
more than just make waves at this weekend’s Midwest Conference
Swimming and Diving Championships.
“I just have a
really good feeling about this weekend,” said Yez. “They’ve
performed above our expectations this season and I’ve been very
pleased with the way the season has turned out. The kids have set
very high expectations for themselves this weekend.”
Those expectations
include improving on last year’s finish. That may be difficult on
the men’s side, where the Scots were second to seven-time defending
champion Grinnell. The women expect to move up from last year’s
fifth-place finish in hopes of gaining ground on Grinnell, which has
won the last 10 league titles on the women’s side.
Entering the MWC
Championships, the Scots’ men have posted a total of 32 top 10 times
in the conference’s 19 events. They are seeded in the top two in 11
events.
Freshman Andrew
Wright (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) leads the Scots with the conference’s
top time in three events. He leads the 1000-yard freestyle
(10:32.95) by more than eight seconds and the 1650 freestyle
(17:33.44) by more than 15 seconds. His league-leading 500 freestyle
time (4:58.43) is nearly four seconds faster than the No. 2 swimmer.
Wright is ranked second in the 200 freestyle (1:50.89), just .07
seconds off the leader, Grinnell freshman Thomas Lankiewicz.
Junior John Kaiser
(Hanover Park, Ill./Glenbard North) has the best time in the 100
butterfly by nearly a second (54.90) and he is seeded second in the
200 fly (2:04.60) by just over a second.
Another junior,
Harrison Heilman (Downers Grove, Ill./North), is seeded second in
the 200 IM by just over two seconds (2:05.25).
In the relays, the
Scots have posted the top time in the 800 freestyle relay (7:34.01),
nearly three seconds ahead of second-seed Grinnell. They have the
second-best time in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays (1:32.10 and
3:22.16). Monmouth is nearly three seconds back in the 200 and just
one second off the pace of Grinnell in the 400.
Despite a
shortened dive season, junior Jack Clifford (Rantoul, Ill./St.
Thomas More) should earn valuable points in the 1-meter diving well,
where he is seeded second.
“Grinnell has to
be the men’s favorite because they can fill all the diving events,”
said Yez. “I feel the battle will be for second between us and
Lawrence. We’ll be a strong contender for second with our collective
depth.”
The depth may see
more points from a variety of swimmers – Ken and Steve Collins in
the individual medley; Tom Pederson, sprints; Joe Testolin and Jim
Travnik, distance; Josh Van Swol in the 200 backstroke and 200
freestyle; and Josh Dunn in the 100 and 200 freestyle and the 100
backstroke.
What the Scots
women lack in numbers, they make up in quality. The team of eight
freshmen and one junior is ranked in the top 10 in 25 events and is
in the top three in 10 events. They have also set two school
records. The Scots will be counting on their youth to provide
scoring punch as the team’s top times have all been turned in by the
freshmen.
Krysta Sparks
(Montrose, Colo./Montrose), who has broken her own record in the 100
and 200 breaststrokes, has the top time in the 200 breaststroke
(2:32.45) by more than a second and is seeded second in the 100
breaststroke (1:09.89), just .06 back of fellow freshman Jordan
Barclay of Carroll. She is third in the 200 IM (2:17.75), less than
six seconds back of the top time.
Rachel Buckham
(Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sturgeon Bay) has the second-best time in the
100 and 200 backstrokes (1:05.38 and 2:19.83, respectively), two
seconds off the leader in the 100 and nearly six seconds back in the
200.
Rachel Holm
(Oregon, Ill./Oregon) is just .03 seconds out of the top seed in the
200 butterfly (2:19.02), trailing Lawrence sophomore Rebecca Hamlyn.
She is third in the 50 free (26.50), one second back of the leader,
Grinnell senior Valerie Stimac.
Monmouth’s 200
medley relay team has the league’s second-best time (1:58.80), less
than three seconds off the top time. Their 400 freestyle relay team
is ranked third (3:56.92), just .11 back of the second seed and
their 400- medley team sits third (4:23.05), nearly 10 seconds back.
“We may not have
the large numbers of women other teams have, but I’ll take the lower
numbers and higher quality anytime,” said Yez. “At championship
meets like this weekend, those quality swimmers can get us a lot of
points. We have quite a few women in scoring position.”
Other hopefuls for
the women are Kendra Kuehl in the individual medley; Jamie
Schingoethe, sprints; and Colleen Zumpf in the breaststroke.
Men's
Swimming |
Women's Swimming
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