Dec 7, 2013
Wheaton, Ill.- The Wheaton women’s and men’s swim teams finished second and third respectively at this weekend’s Wheaton Invitational. Washington (Mo.) University was victorious in both meets. The women’s team earned 786.5 team points to finish in second behind WashU’s 1057 points. The Wheaton men earned 618 points to finish behind WashU (1031) and UW-Stevens Point (704).
The main event on Saturday came down to a tight finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Wheaton’s team of Emma Rogers, Erin Bagley, Kirsty Nitz and Kelly Ormond turned in a time of 1:46.95, which would have been a meet record had WashU not snuck in to the wall in 1:46.91. Wheaton’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Nitz, Sarah Coley, Ormond and Ali Offerdahl won their event in a time of 3:28.28 which earned them a NCAA Nationals consideration time.
Nitz headlined the day for the Thunder with a pair of strong individual performances as well. Nitz set a new meet record and also set a new national top time by over a second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.50 which was a National qualifying time. Nitz also won the 100-yard backstroke (56.15) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:01.50) which earned her a consideration and qualifying time respectively. Her time in the 100-yard backstroke was a new national top time by over a second.
In the 200-yard backstroke Jamie Walitsch finished third in 2:05.44, a Consideration time, and Carlie Herich (PICTURED RIGHT) finished fourth in 2:08.08. Herich also won the 1650-yard freestyle in a Nationals consideration time of 17:29.66.Erin Bagley earned second place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.32) and the 200-yard breaststroke. Bagley’s 100-yard time was a qualifying time and established a new school record and her 200-yard time was good for Nationals consideration. Bagley also finished fourth in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:43.78. Finishing ahead of Bagley was Katie Deysher (4:31.55) and Jamie Walitsch. Deysher’s time was good enough for NCAA considerations.
On the men’s side, Wheaton earned its only event victory of the meet in the 100-yard backstroke when Wills Francis earned an NCAA Consideration time of 50.12. The time broke his own school and CCIW record. Will McCauley finished second in the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:04.25 ahead of fourth place finisher Nick Pulgine who finished in 4:10.91. McCauley was also third in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:07.19. Both of McCauley’s time were consideration times and his time in the 1650-yard freestyle broke the school record in the event.
Jacob Clement finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:43.81. Elliot Penson and Devon Van Beek were fourth and fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke with times of 2:08.11 and 2:10.08. Wheaton’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Jack Raymond, Hayes Wilkerson, Tim Walker and Wills Francis earned a second place finish in a time of 3:06.45
FRIDAY RESULTS
The Wheaton women’s swim team earned 390 team points to sit safely in second place trailing WashU (565.5 points). UW-Whitewater sits in third with 278.5 points, Hope College is in fourth with 235 points and UW-Stevens Point has 233 points.
Wheaton’s strongest performance came in the 200-yard backstroke where the Thunder placed first, third and fourth. Kirsty Nitz turned in an electrifying performance of 2:01.50 which qualified her for NCAA Nationals. Nitz’ time is the second fastest time in the country in the event trailing only Berry’s Stephanie Stadnick’s time of 2:00.21. Jamie Walitsch and Carlie Herich finished in third and fourth with times of 2:05.44 and 2:08.08 respecitvely. Herich also finished third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:02.30 which qualified her for Nationals consideration.
Katie Deysher (PICTURED LEFT) turned in a second place finish in the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 2:07.57 which qualified her for Nationals consideration. Deysher was also fourth in the 200-yard butterfuly in 2:11.35. Erin Bagley was second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:04.32, just .15 seconds behind UW-Whitewater’s Amy Spaay. Both times were Nationals qualifying times.
Wheaton’s strong performance continued in the relays where Wheaton set a new meet record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:35.47. The time turned in by Kirsty Nitz, Marcey Wennlund, Kelly Ormond and Ali Offerdahl qualified the team for Nationals and currently is the best national time in the event. Wheaton also set a meet and school record in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:51.29, just .41 seconds ahead of WashU. Both times were NCAA Qualifying times. The performance by Walitsch, Bagley, Deysher and Nitz is the second-best time nationally in the event trailing Arcadia’s time of 3:48.31.
Wheaton’s men team accrued 321 team points to sit in second place three points ahead of UW-Stevens Point. WashU currently leads with 541 team points. Hope is fourth with 291 points and UW-Whitewater is fifth with 262 points.
Wills Francis (PICTURED RIGHT) and Hayes Wilkerson gave Wheaton a solid showing in the 100-yard freestyle with finishes of second and fourth place. Francis just missed a consideration time by .03 seconds with a time of 45.92 and Wilkerson finished in 47.13. Will McCauley finished in fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:39.02. Elliot Penson was second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:55.56, just half a second behind WashU’s RJ Petrella.Friday’s action peaked with a photo finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. In a race to the wall, Wheaton finished in third place with a time of 1:24.54. WashU snuck in for a second place finish in 1:24.46 and UW-Stevens Point was first to the wall in a time of 1:24.23. Wheaton’s team of Will McCauley, Jacob Clement, Hayes Wilkerson and Korey Clement finished third in the 800-yard freestyle realy with a time of 6:59.05. Wheaton finished third in the 400-yard medley relay as well as Francis, Penson, Jack Raymond and Wilkerson turned in a time of 2:27.44.
The above is a press release taken from the Wheaton Athletics Website. For complete Friday results click here; for complete Saturday results, click here.
