The University of Wisconsin Green Bay women and the University of Indianapolis men held on to their respective leads to win the House of Champions meet at IUPUI this weekend. Multiple program records fell on the final night, as recapped below by the schools’ press releases. Full results can be found here.
IUPUI:
INDIANAPOLIS – Three men and a women’s relay team set new school records on the final day of the 12th House of Champions inside the Natatorium on Sunday (Nov. 22), helping both teams to second-place finishes. The Jaguars trailed only Indianpolis on the men’s side and Green Bay on the women’s side in the final standings.
“It was great to get in and race in our facility after being out all fall with the renovation,” Head Coach Matt Bos said. “This meet is always a measuring stick for us to see how our fall training has gone and I was very pleased with the way our teams performed. We raced incredibly hard and put up some very solid times. We also were able to see the areas we still need some work in and make some adjustments during out winter training for championship season.”
Distance swimmers set the tone for the evening as freshman Ben Levart shattered the school record with a runner-up time of 15:40.32 and classmate David Sweezer was third at 15:54.85 in the mile.
In the women’s 200 backstroke, Alexis Bullard got the win with a meet record time of 2:00.60. Her time was the second quickest in school history and cleared the previous meet record by seven-tenths of a second. The women’s team also put up some exciting finishes in the 100 free, led by Maranda Buha and Madison Taylor. Buha won the race and swam the second-best time in school history at 51.52 while Taylor touched at 52.09.
In the men’s 100 free, Lennart Kuester set a new school and meet record at 45.03, leading a strong group of IUPUI sprinters. For Kuester, it was just the start of a monster evening.
Jon Stoller followed up with a meet and school record in the 200 breaststroke at 2:00.73, building off an already strong meet for the sophomore. In the 200 fly, Carmen Escalante Ruiz and Adam Wait were the Jaguars’ top finishers with Ruiz swimming a time of 2:06.47 to finish second overall. Wait closed at 1:53.26, placing sixth overall.
In the 400 free relays, the women’s quartet of Taylor, Buha, Tori Kroon and Bullard posted a new school record and was second overall at 3:27.85. The men’s 400 relay capped the three-day meet and the Jaguars’ crew of Kuester, Aaron Brysch, Trenton Wolfe and Jarrett Allen put on a show. Kuester opened the race with a school record 100 yard leg of 44.72, becoming the first in school history to go under 45 seconds. The quartet finished the race with a meet record time of 3:01.42, beating their closest competition by nearly a full second.
IUPUI divers were strong on the boards again on Sunday as Kristzian Somhegyi and Mitch Matsey took the top two spots off the 3-meter board. Somhegyi finished his six dives at 304.95 and Matsey posted a score of 293.00. Erik Romer was sixth overall at 242.85. On the women’s side, Melissa Berger was second off the 1-meter board with 247.80 points andBailey Wills was fourth at 217.10.
The divers will return to action on Dec. 4-5 when the Jaguars participate in the EMU Diving Invite while the swimmers won’t compete again until they host Xavier and Ball State on Jan. 8 at the Natatorium.
Lewis:
Men-
INDIANAPOLIS – No. 18 Lewis men’s swimming closed out the House of Champions on Sunday (Nov. 22) with a new school record in the 200 fly.
The Flyers grabbed two of the top three positions in the 200 fly. Junior Brandon Thoman (Marco Island, Fla./Brarron Collier) was second (1:51.57) with a new school record while freshman Colin Williams (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) (1:52.83) was third.
Freshman Mads Knoblauch (Svenborg, Denmark/Svenborg Gymnasium) earned his second win of the meet by swimming the 200 back in 1:47.63. Teammate Quin Poti had an impressive performance in the event as well. The junior swam a time of 1:50.80 to take third.
Junior Aidan Brennan (Naples, Fla. /Barron Collier) recorded a fourth place time in the 1650 free (16:24.85). Junior Adam Wise (Ocala, Fla./Forest) swam a time of 45.45 in the 100 free to take third. Lewis had another third place performance in the 200 breaststroke when senior Zach Ballon(Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) touched third in a time of 2:02.12.
“We had some extremely strong swims up and down the line,” Lewis head coach Roger Karns said.
The Flyers take an extended break before jumping back in the pool on Jan. 4 at Rollins.
Women-
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis women’s swimming set a pair of new school records on Sunday (Nov. 22) during the third and final day of the IUPUI House of Champions.
Senior Shelby Leonard (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota) had a time of 2:02.19 in the 200 back to take second and set a new school record. Lewis swam a time of 3:30.38 in the 400 free relay for a new school record. Sophomore Shannon Sullivan (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community), junior Kinsey Coble (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson), junior Brittany Kamper (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Leonard combined for the performance.
Senior Montana Clasby (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) won the 200 breaststroke by nearly two seconds as she notched a time of 2:20.97.
Sullivan touched sixth in the 200 free (52.69).Sophomore Sarah Simar (Jennings,La./Notre Dame)swam a time of 2:09.22 in the 200 fly to finish fourth.
“The women stepped it up in a big way today,” Lewis head coach Roger Karns said. “There were great performances across the board.”
Lewis is back in action on Jan. 4 at Rollins.
Evansville:
INDIANAPOLIS – Sophomore Courtney Coverdale took top honors in the 1-meter dive as the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams completed the House of Champions.
“It was a very exciting day, we had some excellent racing and fantastic diving,” head coach Rickey Perkins said. “I am very proud of the way the team performed this week. They are responding well to the training and hopefully we continue to improve throughout the remainder of the season.”
Coverdale’s score of 260.05 put her on top in the 1-meter event. Her score was over 12 points better than the competition. In women’s races, Maja Magnusson, Charlotte Lechner, Mackenzie Harris and Michaela Kent finished the 400 free relay in 3:35.73 to take 8th in the race. Magnusson had a strong finish in the 1650 free. She finished the event in 17:45.19 to take 6th.
In the 200 backstroke, Taylor Davidson had a strong race as her 2:06.91 placed her in 11th. Kasey Rein was the top finisher in the 200 fly. Her 2:13.72 put her in 12th. In the 200 breaststroke, Amy Smith registered a 12th place finish of her own, swimming a 2:29.34.
The men picked up a 4th place finish in the 400 free relay. Dan O’Brien, Ethan O’Rourke, Everett Plocek and Matt Childress posted a 3:06.61 to record the high finish. On his own, O’Rourke had a great showing in the 200 backstroke as his 1:52.31 was good for 5th place.
Troy Burger came home seventh in the 200 breaststroke, recording a time of 2:07.35. Jared Sutphin notched a 16:48.31 to take 11th in the 1650 free.
Evansville’s women finished the weekend in 5th out of 10 schools while the men remained in sixth place out of nine.
Eastern Illinois:
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Eastern Illinois University men’s & women’s swimming teams had a strong finish in the final day at the House of Champions as they posted top 10 finishes in five different events. The men’s swimming team earned a seventh place finish at the House of Champions with 477.00 points overall, while the women ended in 10th place as they scored 387.00 points.
The men’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Stephen Truchon, Jennings Soccorso, Shane Witzki, and Steve Fishman ended with the ninth best time at 3:10.89. Nick Harkins, Matt Jacobs, Leo Garofalo, and Bryan McPhersonteamed up in the same event, as they earned 16th best honors with their time of 3:17.42.
Fishman earned the top finish for the Panther men individually with his ninth place finish in the 200-yard backstroke as he posted a time of 1:52.23. Brogan O’Doherty and Harkins also swam in the 200-yard backstroke, as O’Doherty finished in 15th (1:58.65) and Harkins in 21st place (2:02.67). Truchon earned himself the 10th best mark in the 100-yard freestyle as he swam the event in 46.90 seconds. Soccorso posted a 16th place finish in the same event at 48.17 seconds. Jacobs and Brandon Robbins both swam in the 200-yard breaststroke, as Jacobs finished in 14th place (2:08.70) and Robbins in 18th place (2:12.33). Three Panthers –Alex Laleian, Patrick Wood, and Gerald Stingle – all posted times in the finals in the 200-yard butterfly. Laleian finished the event at 2:01.16 (19th place), Wood at 2:09.09 (22nd place), and Stingle at 2:09.74 (23rd place). Jake Roberts and Kyle Ruckertrounded out the list of times in the finals for the Panther men with their postings in the 1650-yard freestyle. Roberts finished the event with the 12th best time (16:49.88) and Ruckert with the 15th best time (17:07.11).
The EIU women’s swimming team had two relay squads in the 400-yard freestyle. Lauren Oostman, Caitlin Danforth, Kaylee Morris, and Kelsey Ferguson completed the event with a time of 3:41.74, which gave them 14th place honors. Joann Wakefield, Martee Grainger, Fallyn Schwake, and Danielle DiMatteo finished not far behind the other group of Panthers, as they finished the event in 3:45.23, giving them a 16th place finish.
Morris earned the top finish for the women’s squad, as her time of 52.88 in the 100-yard freestyle was the seventh fastest time. Oostman finished in the top 10 in the 200-yard backstroke, as her time of 2:05.95 gave her ninth place honors. Four Panthers – Ferguson, Wakefield, Carolyn Belford, and Caro Lamarque – all swam in the finals in the 200-yard breaststroke. Ferguson finished in 11th place at 2:29.09, Wakefield in 14th place at 2:29.97, Belford in 20th place with a time of 2:36.63, and Lamarque in 24th place at 2:42.66. EIU also had three Panthers –Paige Eavenson, Beth Houghton, and Jessie Freudenthaler – earn a spot in the finals in the 200-yard butterfly. Eavenson ended the event in 11th place at 2:13.59, Houghton in 20th at 2:22.02, and Freudenthaler in 21st place at 2:29.81. Schwake was the final individual Panther who earned a spot in the finals as she ended in 15th place with a time of 18:49.41 in the 1650-yard freestyle.
The Eastern Illinois men’s & women’s swimming squads will dive back in the pool on December 4, as they host Saint Louis in Padovan Pool.
Western Illinois:
INDIANAPOLIS – Chris Neaveill set a House of Champions record in the 100-fly and also won the 200-fly to lead the Western Illinois men’s swimming and diving team to a fifth-place finish with 1054 points over the three-day meet in Indianapolis. The women placed eighth with 513 points, spurred by strong squads in the 200 and 400-medley relays, respectively.
“This was a great meet for us,” said head coach Greg Naumann. “I knew that we would have some great swims, but I didn’t anticipate seeing our team compete as well as we did. We had a lot of in-season best times along with some lifetime best times.”
Neaveill raced to a 49.87 time in the 100-fly, setting a House of Champions record and coming within two seconds of his personal and program record. Samir Almhiemid finished eighth in the race in 51.54. Neaveill later won the 200-fly in 1:50.97, with Cameron Van De Velde coming in fifth in 1:53.09 and Dylon Rykosky winning the B-Final in 1:53.63.
Neaveill also teamed with Rykosky, John Hall and Chris’ brother Tyler Neaveill to register a fourth-place touch in 1:25.12 in the 200-free relay. Tyler Neaveilllater recorded a 10th-place finish in the 50-free in 21.54.
The Leathernecks also scored fourth place in the men’s 400-medley relay, when Almhiemid, JD Furr and the Neaveill brothers raced to a 3:23.94 time. In the 800-free relay, the team of Dylon Rykosky, Adric Sorensen, Hall and Matt Abercrombie came in fifth in 6:56.12. Western’s 400-free squad of Rykosky, Hall, and the Neaveill brothers also finished fifth in the 400-free relay.
Western Illinois later received fifth-place solo finishes from Abercrombie with time of 4:05.55 in the 400-IM and 16:19.06 in the 1650-free. Hall won the B-Final in the 400-IM in 4:06.81, with Van De Velde coming in 12th in 4:12.37. Abercrombie also touched sixth in the 500-free with a time of 4:37.80.
Rykosky’s 1:57.41 time in the 200-IM placed him eighth overall. Ryksosky was trailed by McQuigg (1:55.54) and Hall (1:56.74), who finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Rykosky also scored a seventh-place touch in the 200-free in 1:43.24.
The Leathernecks’ took seventh and eighth in the men’s 100-breast, as Furr (57.60) just out-touched McQuigg (57.99). Western also scored a pair of top-10 finishes in the 100-back, with Chris Neaveill coming in fourth at 50.83 and Almhiemid registering sixth at 51.02.
On the women’s side, Andie Villez recorded the best touch, with a fifth-place finish in the 200-breast in 2:24.85. Sarah Rosenhauer‘s time of 2:26.90 in the event was good enough for ninth, with Hagen (2:29.48) scoring 13th.
Lizzie Hollopeter, Rosenhauer, Hagen and Marissa Purdum teamed up to finish 10th in the 200-medley relay in 1:49.92. Hollopeter, Rosenhauer and Hagen’s also teamed with Natalie Cumbie for 10th-place touch in the 400-medley relay came in 4:02.47. The team of Taylor Winkel, Villez, Amy Borgstede andHannah Fisher finished just a few spots back in the 400-medley relay in 13th in 4:06.51.
In the 100-breast, the Leathernecks had Rosenhauer take seventh (1:06.79) with Hagen eighth (1:06.99) and Villez 10th (1:07.61).
Amanda Schaefer scored a 16th place with a personal-best of 5:19.99 time in the 500-free. The freshman came in 12th in the 1650 free in 18:14.97, just ahead of teammate Hannah Fisher, who’s 13th-place touch came in 18:38.46. Fisher also tallied a 13th-place touch in the 400-IM in 4:52.95.
In the women’s 1-meter dive, Melanie Pearson compiled a 216.25 score that was good enough for fifth. She later finished seventh in the 3-meter dive with a score of 183.85. Viktor Rusenas came in seventh in the men’s 1-meter with his 242.25 score.
Western Illinois will return home to compete against Truman State on Dec. 5 at noon.
“We do have some things that each person still need to improve upon, but we did notice that some of those things that we work on in practice are transferring into our racing,” Naumann said. “We are definitely on track to rewrite our record board even more than what we did last year, and the year before that. As long as things continue to progress in the same direction, we should have a tremendous finish to this season.”
Wisconsin Green Bay:
Coming off a sweep of the Phoenix 1-2-3 meet on Nov. 6-7, the Green Bay swimming and diving teams traveled to Indianapolis, Ind., this past weekend to compete at the annual three-day House of Champions invite on the Campus of IUPUI. Up against a nine-team field, the Phoenix women won its third consecutive meet with 1,703 total points, while the men placed third with 1,260.50 points behind the University of Indianapolis (1,569) and IUPUI (1,474).
“The Phoenix family should be proud of their swimmers and divers for their performances this weekend,” said head coach Reed Robelot. “All of our hard work this fall showed and will give us new energy as we head into the holiday training phase. This evening, we will enjoy the accomplishments of the weekend, but tomorrow we go back to work.”
Green Bay competed against the University of Indianapolis, Evansville, Bellarmine, Centre College, IUPUI, Lewis University, Butler University, Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois, as junior Haley Lucas (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) re-established her own meet record and personal best time in the 200 yard butterfly, clocking in at 2:02.36. Lucas had the old record at 2:03.93, which she set as a freshman on Nov. 24, 2013.
Sophomore Stephanie Garvin (West Chicago, Ill.) got off on the right foot on Friday by winning the women’s 500- yard freestyle in a time of 4:56.33, which ended 33-hundredths of a second off the meet record. Other notable performances included the women’s 400 Medley Relay final consisting of junior Claire Friederick (Lancaster, Wis.), senior Racheal Weiland (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), freshman Alicia Hanson (Shawano, Wis.) and Garvin, who took first place with a time of 3:48.70 , and Weiland’s third place finish in the Women’s 200 IM at 2:07.51.
Green Bay took second and third place in the women’s 200 yard medley relay, as the team of senior Emily Gomez (Burlington, Wis.), Weiland, Lucas and Friederick (1:44.70) placed just ahead of freshman Katherine Nagler (West Chicago, Ill.), senior Marlee Kiander (Tomahawk, Wis.), Hanson and junior Janna Check (1:46.81). Junior Natalie Neuwirth (Stevens Point, Wis.) placed second in the 400 yard IM clocking a finals time of 4:33.65, while Lucas won the 100 butterfly (55.65) by the narrowest of margins, defeating IUPUI’s Maranda Buha (55.66) by a hundredth of a second. Lucas was followed by Garvin, who won the 200 yard freestyle in 1:52.05, and Weiland, who won the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:04.37. Friederick would also win an individual event on Saturday in the 100 yard backstroke, clocking in a time of 55.81, while Gomez finished fourth at 57.41.
The 800-yard freestyle relay was won by Garvin, Neuwirth, Check and junior Alyssa Udean (Lino Lakes, Minn.) in a time of 7:37.82, and sophomore Bailey Wagner (West Bend, Wis.) won the 3-meter dive with a score of 263.35 in the final round. Wagner would go on to place third in the one-meter competition at 223.70.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Green Bay team consisting of Weiland, Hanson, sophomore Tess Frey(Madison, Wis.) and Friederick took home second place at 1:34.53, while Garvin (17:19.61) and Udean (17:34.02) placed 1-2 in the 1650 freestyle final. Friederick placed third in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:03.65, and Weiland second in the 100 yard freestyle at 52.00. In the 400-yard freestyle, Weiland, Hanson, Check and Garvin won once again in 3:27.58,
On the men’s side, the two performances of major note came in the 100 yard backstroke, as freshman Charles Warren (Dubuque, Iowa) finished second at 50.50, while senior Tanner Nordlund (262.80) and sophomore Michael Klemm (260.60) placed second and third, respectively, in the one-meter diving competition.
After a break from competition, Green Bay will return to the pool next month on Dec. 12 with its first of five consecutive conference home meets against UIC. The events will get underway at 1 p.m. from the Peter F. Dorschel Natatorium inside the Kress Events Center.
Indianapolis:
INDIANAPOLIS – A weekend filled with record-breaking performances culminated Sunday night with the UIndy men’s swim team taking the team title at the 13th annual House of Champions. The women finished 3rd overall in the ten-team field, trailing only Wisconsin-Green Bay and the host school IUPUI, both DI programs.
The men bested five Division I schools – IUPUI, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Evansville – along with Lewis, Bellarmine and Centre College.
The Greyhound women finished in front of DI Butler, Evansville, Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois.
Below is a recap of the weekend action from the downtown Indianapolis IUPUI Natortium, including head coachJason Hite‘s thoughts on the team’s showing.
FRIDAY
After setting a meet record in the 200 freestyle relay a year ago, the Greyhound men defended their top spot in this year’s event. The quartet of Marius Bornkessel, Romano Hoffmann, Demetrakis Haholiades and Bucky Coonradtnarrowly edged out Lewis for the first place finish (1:23.42).
Senior Ana Couto took fourth in the 500 freestyle A-final with a time of 5:03.96, good for sixth-best in program history.
In the same event on the men’s side, freshman Vitor Botana (4:25.19) and senior Dawid Rybinski (4:33.21) finished first and third, respectively, in the A-final. Botana not only topped Rybinski’s prior school-record, he also broke the meet record set in 2013 by more than three seconds.
Fellow freshman George Oancea placed second in the men’s 200 IM (1:51.11) A-final, also good for a top-five school time.
Fresh off a PNC GLVC Athlete of the Week honor, freshman Stefanie Haholiades backed it up with a win in the women’s 50 freestyle (23.56), the third best time in Greyhound history. Sophomore Malvina Shoukri (24.30) and senior Hannah Schuster (24.32) also scored well for the women’s side, finishing second and third, respectively, in the B-final.
Sebastian Konnaris, Bartosz Zarzecki, Bucky Coonradt and Vitor Botana finished second in the men’s 400 medley relay to conclude Day 1 of action.
SATURDAY
The men wasted little time extending their Day 1 team-lead, as Konnaris, Zarzecki, Coonradt and Marius Bornkessel took the top spot in the 200 medley relay (1:31.44).
George Oancea picked up his second individual win of the weekend, breaking a meet record in the 400 IM (3:57.71). The Honuds swept the top-three spots in the race, with Romano Hoffmann (4:01.62) and Nicholas Quigley (4:03.03) following in second and third.
Sophomore Laura Bem finished fourth in the women’s 100 butterfly (58.81) B-final, while Alexis Dobrzynskifinished first in the C-final.
Hannah Schuster placed third in the 200 freestyle A-final (1:54.42), and Stefanie Haholiades finished first in the B-final (1:54.80).
The Hounds picked up another first-place finish as Vitor Botana nearly set his second meet record of the weekend. Botana topped the 200 freestyle field (1:38.24), missing out on the previous meet record by just .06 seconds.
Later, Bartosz Zarzecki finished first in the 100 backstroke A-final (55.02) breaking former Greyhound Sean Yeh‘s meet record from last year.
SUNDAY
Vitor Botana continued a dominant House of Champions showing with a decisive win in the 1650 freestyle (15:23.90), besting the previous school record by nearly ten seconds.
For the women, Ana Couto finished fourth in the 1650 freestyle (17:40.53). Malvina Shoukri followed with a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle (52.66) A-final, while Stephanie Haholiades won the B-final (53.09).
In a thrilling men’s 100 freestyle A-final that saw the top four swimmers within a half-second of one another, Marius Bornkessel finished second (45.40) with Dawid Rybinski finishing fourth (45.53).
The men put the lead away for good after taking four of the top six spots in the 200 breastroke, led by Bartosz Zarzecki‘s second-place finish (2:01.67).
COACHES CORNER
“I’m very happy with most of our performances. The teams raced hard and posted many impressive times. We are in a good place at this point in the season. We are ready to move on and stay focused on the ultimate goals: GLVC Championships in February and NCAA DII Nationals in March,” – Jason Hite.
Swimming news courtesy of IUPUI, Lewis University, Evansville, Eastern Illinois, Indianapolis, Wisconsin Green Bay, and Western Illinois Swimming & Diving.
