CofC seniors. Photo courtesy of CofCsports.com
Senior Day had particular meaning in Charleston, South Carolina as the College of Charleston swam the final meet in its Stern Center Pool. It was an emotional weekend but the Cougars put forth a strong effort. The men defeated Gardner-Webb in the two-day meet, 242-99; the women lost a close battle, 198-146. Full results
Friday, January 23
The Cougars started off strong, winning both the women’s and men’s 200 SCM free relays. Mary Frances Babrowicz, Clare Fleming, Taylor Hollingsworth, and Sarah Graif edged Gardner-Webb’s Mary O’Doherty, Kelsey Williams, Giorgie Graves, and Charity Byrum, 1:49.28 to 1:49.73. The Charleston men won their race 1:35.01 to 1:35.42. Alex Wood, Elijah Bohon, Sam Blythe and Will Kantlehner represented the Cougars, while Connor Bos, Nathan Lile, Tyler Gomez, and Joe MacGregor swam for GWU.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs women won the first four individual events. Lili Toth claimed the first of her three individual titles with a 2:23.91 in the 200 SCM IM. Teammate London Schumacher (2:25.27) was second. CofC’s Michelle Whitfield was the first Cougar to the wall in 2:28.50. Next, Lauren Oglesby swam a 4:33.26 to win the 400 SCM free. Alexa Namestnik of CofC placed second in 4:37.10. Gardner-Webb’s Byrum came from behind to win the 100 SCM breast over Hollingsworth, 1:13.57 to 1:14.65. Then April Niccolai led the Runnin’ Bulldogs on a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 SCM back, touching in 2:23.57. Madison Tarleton was the fastest Cougar with 2:29.40.
Photo courtesy of CofCsports.com
Babrowicz won the first event for CofC with a 59.84 in the 100 SCM free. Teammate Graif finished right behind in 59.94, and GWU’s Graves was third with 1:00.31. Corinne Taylor followed with a victory in the 200 SCM fly; she touched in 2:22.81 ahead of GWU’s Schumacher (2:25.19).
Gardner-Webb finished the first session with a 4:26.81 win in the 400 SCM medley relay with Toth, Byrum, Graves, and Kelsey Williams. CofC’s Tarleton, Hollingsworth, Taylor, and Graif finished second in 4:31.73.
The Cougar men won all but one event on Friday evening. After the relay, Will Ryan put the Cougars on the board with a 2:07.36 in the 200 SCM IM. GWU’s Lile was second in 2:08.06. CofC’s Jack Story followed with a win in the 400 SCM free, touching out Luke Denman of Gardner-Webb, 4:07.76 to 4:07.84. Ryan was back for his second gold-medal swim in the 100 SCM breast, where he clocked a 1:04.35 ahead of teammate Kantlehner (1:08.20) and GWU’s Austin Toney (1:08.76). Charleston’s Richard Brown edged teammate Bohon to win the 200 SCM back, 2:07.21 to 2:07.63; Bos of the Runnin’ Bulldogs was fourth in 2:11.69.
Lile provided Gardner-Webb with its first victory with his 51.74 in the 100 SCM free. Charleston’s Wood (53.18) was runner-up. Pablo Ortiz won the first of his two individual events for the Cougars with a 2:09.79 in the 200 SCM fly. Teammate Matthew Elliott traded stroked for stroke with GWU’s Tate Warden but prevailed in the end to take second place, 2:11.57 to 2:11.87. Charleston’s Talmadge Spence, Ryan, Ortiz, and Joshua Shaffer won the 400 SCM medley relay in 3:53.45.
Saturday, January 24
Gardner-Webb dominated the second half of the women’s meet, winning all but the very last event. Toth, Byrum, O’Doherty, and Christina Clayton (2:00.16) begin with a victory in the 200 SCM medley relay over CofC’s Audrey Rittenhouse, Hollingsworth, Jayme Groth, and Babrowicz (2:01.03). Oglesby then picked up her second with with a 9:18.48 in the 800 SCM free. CofC’s Namestnik was runner-up in 9:28.48, a 10-second improvement from her seed time.
O’Doherty sprinted to a 27.39 victory in the 50 SCM free, just ahead of the Cougars’ Babrowicz (27.45) and Groth (27.76). Toth earned her second gold medal in the 100 SCM back when she led a 1-2-3 Gardner-Webb sweep in 1:05.84. Teammates Jenna Ballinger (1:07.97) and Niccolai (1:08.84) finished second and third, while Tarleton was CofC’s first finisher in 1:09.67.
Byrum won her second breaststroke event with 2:41.91 in the 200. Teammate Jessica Robinson was second in 2:48.73 and Elizabeth Mooney of CofC, third, in 2:51.05. Graves clocked a 1:04.49 to win the 100 SCM fly, just ahead of the Cougars’ Taylor (1:05.17) and Groth (1:05.46). Toth notched her third win in the 200 SCM free, going 2:11.88 in front of Graif (2:12.97) and Williams (2:13.05). The final individual event went to GWU’s Schumacher, who won the 400 SCM IM in 5:04.31. CofC’s Whitfield went 5:13.41 for second.
Charleston rallied to end the meet on an emotional high note as they won the 400 SCM free relay, 4:01.59 to 4:03.87. Babrowicz, Alexa Resetar, Graif and Groth brought it home for the Cougars, while Williams, Graves, O’Doherty and Toth represented the Runnin’ Bulldogs.
Photo courtesy of CofCsports.com
The Cougars dominated the men’s meet on Saturday afternoon, beginning with the 200 SCM medley relay, when Spence, Ryan, Ortiz, and Wood held off GWU’s Bos, Brandon Searle, Tyler Gomez, and Lile, 1:45.70 to 1:45.84 for the win. The Runnin’ Bulldogs’ Denman revenged his second-place finish in the 400 free with a commanding win in the 800. He touched in 8:33.60 ahead of CofC’s Story (8:39.25) and Jake Gregory (8:45.15).
Wood won the 50 SCM free for the Cougars in 23.82, the only one in the field under 24 seconds. Teammate Kantlehner placed second in 24.33, just ahead of GWU’s Joe MacGregor (24.45). Spence brought home the gold in the 100 SCM back with 57.79. Teammate Brown was runner-up with 58.53, while GWU’s Bos finished third in 59.38.
Ryan’s third win came in the 200 SCM breast, when he clocked a 2:22.76 in front of teammate Bohon (2:26.73) and Toney of GWU (2:28.96). Ortiz followed up with a 56.85 victory in the 100 fly. Gomez from GWU was second in 58.29, just ahead of Spence (58.44).
Lile went 1:55.84 to claim the 200 SCM free title. CofC’s Shaffer (1:57.47) and Ben Hillebrand (1:58.81) rounded off the podium. The last individual event went to CofC’s Ryan, who put up a 4:39.42 to win the 400 SCM IM. Denman was second in 4:44.61; Ortiz, third (4:47.16). Bohon, Shaffer, Spence, and Wood closed out the meet with a resounding victory in the 400 SCM free relay. Their 3:31.71 was more than 6 seconds faster than GWU’s Andrew Linzie, Warden, Searle, and Hal McKay.
