Baxter, Best Win 3rd Event Titles on Day 3 of NJCAA Championships

2018-2019 NJCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 6th-9th, 2019
• Burt Flickinger Athletic Center, Buffalo, New York
• Video
• Live Results on Meet Mobile
• Championship Central
• Day 1 Results PDF
• Day 2 Results PDF
• Day 3 Results PDF

While Indian River has by-and-large dominated this year’s NJCAA Championship (as they have for most of the last 4 decades), on each of the first 2 days of the meet, the Pioneers lost an event.

On Friday, the penultimate day of the championship, the Pioneers put together a perfect day, winning all 12 swimming events, plus the men’s 1-meter diving.

Men’s Recap

Top 5 Team Scores After Day 3:

1. Indian River – 1005
2. Iowa Central Community College – 488
3. Southwestern Oregon – 388
4. Barton Community College – 348
5. South Georgia State College – 330

Indian River freshman Jarryd Baxter won his 3rd individual event in 3 tries of the meet, continuing his run of dominance at this meet with a 9-second win in the 500 free. He swam a 4:26.27 to lead an Indian River 1-2-3 in the event.

He became the first individual triple winner of the meet with that swim, but wasn’t the only one to join that club on Friday. His teammate Ruben van Leeuwen won the 200 fly in 1:46.16. That’s about 8-tenths short of his NJCAA Record from 2017, but still won by almost 4 seconds. He previously won the 50 free and 100 fly.

Two more Indian River swimmers joined the double-win club.

Ryan van Wyk won the men’s 100 IM in 49.47, adding to an earlier win in the 50 back and a runner-up finish in the 50 free. Conor Lynch has a similar record at the meet. He won the 100 back on Friday in a time of 48.69. He was the runner-up in the 50 back earlier in the meet, behind van Wyk, and won the 1000 free in 9:29.04.

Other Day 3 Winners:

• Olle Williamson won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 55.25, half-a-second ahead of Iowa Central’s Emile Lutzeler (55.74). Lutzeler is one of the two non-Indian River winners at the meet, having won the 50 breaststroke on Wednesday.
• Jake Servaites led an Indian River 1-2-3 finish with a score of 440.20 on the 1-meter.
• Indian River kept their perfect relay record alive with a 1:28.50 in the 200 medley relay. That group included Van Leeuwen, Eric Veit, van Wyk, and Jared Ingram.

Women’s Recap

Top 5 Team Scores After Day 3:

1. Indian River – 934
2. South Georgia State College – 425
3. Iowa Central Community College – 386
4. Southwestern Oregon – 340
5. Barton Community College – 334

Last season, Indian River’s Sophia Diagne won the 100 IM and set an NJCAA Record in the event. This year, she shifted over to the 100 backstroke, where the Pioneers had a big hole, and won in 56.45. She beat out Southwestern Oregon’s Patricija Ozola (57.86) and Piper Engler (59.23).

But that didn’t hurt Indian River in the 100 IM. They had enough depth there to still take a 1-2 finish, led by Elianna Kennon in 58.98 and with Camryn Wheals taking 2nd in 1:00.13.

Other Day 3 Winner:

• South African Charlise Oberholzer won the women’s 500 free in 5:00.73. The race came down to the wire between her and teammate Sule van der Merwe. Van der Merwe held a 2-full-second lead going into the final 50 (which was as big as 6-and-a-half seconds earlier in the race), but a monster final split of 28.55 from Oberholzer finished off the win. Oberholzer won the 1000 free earlier in the meet, so she’s got the endurance to finish in the 500.
• Savanna Best dominated the 100 breast won in 1:02.45 – beating out Iowa Central’s Emilie Andrin by 4.4 seconds – for her 3rd title of the meet. She won the 50 breaststroke and 200 IM on Thursday.
• Camryn Hudson won the women’s 200 fly by 6.72 seconds, swimming a 2:03.23. Only 7 swimmers entered that event.
• With a relay of Diagne, Best, Emma Colvin, and Kennon, Indian River swam a 1:43.02 to win the 200 medley relay.