Annual Relays Open NCAC Season

This Saturday, the North Coast Athletic Conference swimming and diving programs opened the season with the annual Swimming and Diving relays. The swimming portion was contested at the Kenyon Athletic Center in Gambier, Ohio while the diving relays took place at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Many of the contested events are not “real” relays and are seen only at the Relay meet, including the 4x50s of stroke, the 500 creshendo relay (50-100-150-200) and the 4×100 IM relays.

Note: many relays were swum exhibition, and only the fastest relay for each team scored points. The top three listed here are the top three point scoring relays.

Men

Denison headed up the victory on the men’s side of things (164), with Kenyon second (128) and Ohio Northern registering third (108) out of eight teams.

The Kenyon Lords claimed first in the 200 medley relay – one of the Relay Meet’s “real” events, giving a glimpse into what we might expect from the coming season. The team of Oscar Anderson, Trevor Manz, Jon Zimdars and Austin Pu snagged the win with nearly a second lead, touching in at 1:33.83. Denison‘s A team took second (1:34.91) with Ohio Northern taking third place points (1:37.70). Notable splits include Manz’ 25.79 breast split, P.J. Desmet (DU) splitting a 24.15 lead off and a whole host of 22 fly splits.

Denison countered with a narrow victory in the next event – the 200 backstroke relay. The quartet of Jackson Lindell, Bebe Wang, Desmet and Alec Carlson came away with the victory in 1:33.84. Kenyon took second (1:33.93) and third place points went to Ohio Northern (1:41.14). The field here was just fast all across, with 24.59 (Lindell) and 25.69 (Oscar Anderson, Kenyon) out of two lead offs. Both teams anchored in sub-23 with Carlson a 22.91 and Ian Reardon (KC) 22.83.

The Lords put Manz, Reardon and Pu back in action with Kieran Allsop to steal away with the 200 breaststroke relay crown with a new meet record (1:45.95). Denison‘s A squad came in runner up (1:49.04) and Ohio Northern took third (1:52.55). The entire Kenyon squad was well under 27 seconds across the board with Pu anchoring in 26.06 and Manz leading off in a 26.55.

Big Red came in hammering for victory on the 500 Crescendo relay. The squad of Kymani Senior, Kenny Fox, Ryan Stevenson and Stuart Hohm brought home the win in 4:02.72. The splits looked like this: 21.36, 46.58, 1:14.79, 1:39.99. Kenyon claimed second (4:03.12) with Ohio Northern claiming third place points (4:17.43).

The 200 butterfly relay went the way of Big Red, with the team of Bebe Wang, Fox, Senior and Lindell posting a 1:31.95 to secure the top spot. Kenyon was second (1:32.52) and Ohio Northern claimed third place points (1:37.90). Fox, Senior and Lindell all put up 22s, with Fox’s 22.49 being the fastest split on the field.

The Lords threw their distance crew into gear for the next relay, setting the stage to take down another meet record in the 3×500 freestyle relay. The trio of Connor Rumpit, Brooks McCoy and Arthur Conover made a winning 14:01.27 bid for victory. Their splits went like this: 4:38.39, 4:44.14, 4:38.74. Denison took second (14:11.88) and third place points went to Wooster (15:27.52).

The 4×100 IM relay is the kind of drop-dead  sprint event everyone loves to watch. The Denison quartet of Wang, Lindell, Ryan Stevenson and Hohm teamed up and used that energy to take down the meet relay with a 3:31.76 effort. Second was Kenyon (3:32.16) with third place points going to Ohio Northern (3:45.54). Reardon (KC) had the fastest split out of the field with a 51.70 on his leg of the relay. The next fastest was Lindell (DU) with a 52.30.

In the last event of the session, sprinters got up to get their thing done in the 200 freestyle relay. Kenyon eked out its final victory of the day with a 1:24.75. Denison took second (1:25.20) with third place points to Ohio Northern (1:27.42). The fastest split in the field was anchor Eric Gerlach (DU) throwing down the only sub 21 time: 20.97. Pu (KC) would also likely have been under as he led off in a 21.00.

The diving relays held at Denison‘s pool were added into the final tally for scores. The results are as follow:

Men’s 1M Diving Relay:

1. Max Levy (300.65)/Brian Allen (274.55) – DU 575.20
2. Braden Kuhn (171.20)/Zachary Whitmore (103.55) – ONU 274.75
3. Ryder Sammons (201.80)/ – KC 201.80

Men’s 3M Diving Relay:

1. Max Levy (342.60)/Brian Allen (298.30) – DU 640.90
2. Michael Burke (235.30)/ – DU 235.30
3. Ryder Sammons (184.05)/ – KC 184.05

For complete meet results, click here. 

Women

On the women’s end, Kenyon and Denison tied for first (160) and the College of Wooster came in third (82) out of eight teams.

The Kenyon Ladies got the meet started off with a bang, taking first with a new meet record in the 200 medley relay, one of the events contested that will appear in the regular season. The team of Summer Otazu, Julia Wilson, Hollie Hopf and Hannah Orbach-Mandel posted a 1:45.14 to narrowly defeat Denison‘s runner up squad (1:45.39). Ohio Wesleyan took third place points (1:54.87). Notable splits include a 28.81 breaststroke split out of KT Kustritz (DU), a 24.95 fly split from Carolyn Kane (DU) and Orbach-Mandel’s anchoring 23.22 split that secured the win for the Ladies.

Big Red struck back with some backstroke depth on the next relay – a 4×50 backstroke race, with the quartet of Casey Kirby, Angela Le, Jacquie Kurkjian and Kane snatching the victory and setting a new meet record as well in 1:44.92. Kenyon finished second (1:44.92) and Ohio Wesleyan took third place points (1:46.01). Notable splits include Kurkjian (25.93) and Kane (25.59), the only two women under the 26 second mark on any leg of the race.

In the 4×50 breaststroke relay, the Kenyon quartet of Laura Duncan, Sophia Kuvan, Ellie Crawford and Wilson set another record, touching in at 2:02.30 for the victory. Denison‘s squad finished second (2:02.73) and Ohio Northern took third place points (2:12.46). Denison‘s Kustritz threw another 28 breaststroke split out – this time a 28.58. The Big Red team led through the 150 mark, until Wilson’s anchor leg 29.52 came from behind to speed the Kenyon Ladies to the wall. The only other swimmer close to cracking the 30 second mark was Duncan, leading off for the Ladies with a 30.15 – give her a good relay start and she’ll be under as well.

In the crescendo relay, the Ladies continued breaking records, putting up a 4:31.92 for victory. The quartet of Princess Ferguson-Nguyen, Abby Wilson, Kendall Vanderhoof and Orbach-Mandel crushed the competition by over four seconds, bolstered primarily by Orbach-Mandel’s commanding final 200 yards. The splits go a little something like this: 24.80, 52.31, 1:24.82, 1:50.05. Yeah, there was a relay start…but that’s still somewhere around the sixth fastest 200 freestyle done so far this season. Denison touched the wall second in 4:36.14 and third place points went to Oberlin (4:50.07).

The 4×50 butterfly relay put the Ladies’ speed on display again, with the team of Hopf, Kanchi Desair, Otazu and Orbach-Mandel snatching up another first and setting another meet record: 1:44.41. Denison took second place points (1:47.95) with Wooster grabbing the points for third (1:52.82). Splits of note include Hopf’s 26.06 leadoff and Orbach-Mandel’s 25.39 anchor leg. It’s worth noting that Kenyon‘s B team touched second, with a few relay legs that could have improved the overall time of the victorious A quartet, including a 26.11 anchor out of breaststroke specialists, Duncan.

In the event crafted to let distance athletes shine – the 3 x 500 freestyle – Denison‘s trio of Campbell Costley, Erica Hsu and Natalie Zaravella ran away with the win, hitting the clock at 15:26.96 to win. The winning splits went as follows: 5:05.12, 5:14.04, 5:07.80. Second place Kenyon came in at 15:42 and Wooster claimed third place points with a 16:47.22.

The 4×100 IM relay is a fun bit of wonky-ness with everyone swimming a 100 IM. Denison‘s team of Kane, Kustritz, Costley and Casey Kirby carried it away, putting up a 4:04.90 to easily take the victory. Kenyon was second (4:08.53) and third place points went with Ohio Northern (4:24.77). Kustritz was the only one under the minute mark, splitting a 59.45, and she could have even been sub 59  – she had a .48 reaction time off the blocks. The next best split came from DU lead off Kane (1:00.51).

The women closed out the session at Kenyon with a 200 freestyle relay, which the Kenyon Ladies cinched up. Orbach-Mandel, Ferguson-Nguyen, Abby Wilson and Zoe Toscos teamed up for a 1:37.13 win. Denison was second (1:37.72) and third place points went to Wooster (1:44.01). At the end of a taxing meet, notable splits include the 24.2 lead off legs from Kane (DU) and Orbach-Mandel (KC).

The diving relays held at Denison‘s pool were added into the final tally for scores. The results are as follow:

Women’s 1M Diving Relay:

1. Allison Fitzgerald (247.75)/Emma Weber (230.25) – DU 478.00
2. Eva Vivero (217.60)/Naomi Clayton (203.10) – DU 421.00
3. Madeline Carlson (208.85)/Frances Anderson Bicknell (163.80) – KC 372.65

Women’s 3M Diving Relay:

1. Allison Fitzgerald (236.40)/Emma Weber (235.70) – DU 472.10
2. Naomi Clayton (217.80)/Katherine Hennigan (191.45) – DU 409.25
3. Madeline Carlson (172.65)/Frances Anderson Bicknell (120.60) – KC 293.25

For complete meet results, click here. 

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