University of Denver Women Earn First NCAA Qualifying Relay Time Ever on Day 1 of Summit League Championships

The 2015 Summit League Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana kicked off today in the form of two relays and the women’s 3-meter diving competition.  After tonight’s events, the University of Denver men sit in first place, while the IUPUI Jaguars hold the top spot in the women’s competition by just one point.

Live results available here.

Men’s Scores
University of Denver – 80.0
IUPUI – 68.0
South Dakota State University – 64.0
Western Illinois University – 60.0
The University of South Dakota – 56.0
Eastern Illinois – 26

Women’s Scores – Top 5
IUPUI – 110.0
University of Denver – 109.0
University of Nebraska – 89.0
The University of South Dakota – 84.0
South Dakota Sate University – 83.0
Western Illinois – 57.0
Eastern Illinois – 26.0

Last year’s Summit League Champion, The University of Denver, made their presence known right off the bat again in this season’s edition by sweeping both the 200y medley and 800y freestyle relays, with all four coming in new League Records.. The University of Denver Pioneer women absolutely crushed the field tonight, winning the 200y medley relay in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:37.43.  This is the first time that the University of Denver has ever had an NCAA-qualifying relay at the Division I level.

The combination of Johanna Roas (24.80), Amanda Sanders (27.39), Sam Corea (22.80) and Zoe Huddleston (22.44) was a force that tore through the competition, touching the wall over five seconds faster than the rest of the field.  The Pioneers’ time tonight also laid waste to last year’s championship record time of 1:39.54, of which three out of the four squad members tonight were a part, save for Huddleston.

The Denver men also threw down a championship record in their race, clocking a 1:27.31, with stellar swims by Anton Loncar (22.59), Tim Cottam (23.97), Andrew Torres (21.31) and Ray Bornman (19.44).   The previous record of 1:27.44 from Oakland University had been on the books since 2009.

The University of Denver women also just stomped on the field in the 800y free relay as well, topping the competition by over 18 seconds, clocking a 7:11.89.  The foursome of Johanna Roas (1:47.19), Drew Matthews (1:47.42), Maddie Myers (1:48.53) and Bridgette McNally (1:48.75) took down the championship record of 7:20.02, set by last year’s Denver team.

And then the Pioneer men immediately followed with a record-breaking swim of their own, as Ray Bornman (1:35.13), William Van Dehy (1:36.02), Dylan Bunch (1:37.88) and Luke Williams (1:35.75) tore through last year’s championship record as well.  Their 6:24.78 from tonight shredded Oakland University’s 6:30.71 mark set back in 2009.

The University of South Dakota’s Greysen Hertting got her job done in the diving department, claiming a narrow victory over runner-up Melissa Berger from IUPUI in the women’s 3-meter diving.  Hertting ended the night with 273.75 to Berger’s 273.20.  This is Hertting’s second consecutive Summit League three-meter championship title.

Prelims start tomorrow at IUPUI at 11:00am Eastern.

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James Resare
9 years ago

Word from the deck is Denver freshman Anton Loncar posted a 1:41.2 200y BK in a time trial. Based on past history that should punch his ticket to the big dance. Congrats buddy! I think the entire town of Hillsboro heard the HEAT freak out when we got word tonight. Great work to Denver coaching staff.

About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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