Kansas Sets Four Pool Records Against William Jewell in SCM Showdown

The University of Kansas vs William Jewell College (Division II)

  • Wednesday, January 16th
  • Liberty, MO
  • Results
  • Short Course Meters
  • Scores (Women’s only)
    • Kansas 149-William Jewell 50

On Wednesday, the Kansas Jayhawks earned their 6th-consecutive dual meet victory against the Division II William Jewell College women’s swim team. The meet, which was hosted by William Jewell in Liberty, MO, was swum in short course meters (SCM), meaning the standard 1000 and 500 yard freestyles were swapped for the 800 and 400 meter freestyles, respectively.

Kansas kicked off their 11-event campaign with a commanding victory in the 200 meter medley relay, where the ‘A’ squad of Manon Manning, Kate Steward, Kaitlyn Witt, and Carly Straight posted a time fo 1:59.44, making them the only team to go sub-2 minutes. The Jayhawks’ ‘B’ team touched 2nd in 2:00.31, while the exhibition ‘C’ team touched 3rd in 2:03.33, leaving the William Jewell ‘A’ team 4th to the wall, but 3rd after discounting the exhibition relay.

The Jayhawks’ first pool record of the day came from distance ace Jenny Nusbaum, who posted a time of 9:02.86 to break her own pool record of 9:03.15 set two years earlier. Teammates Claire Campbell (9:09.11) and Libby Walker (9:12.69) finished 2nd and 3rd, giving the Jayhawks their first official 1-2-3 finish of the day, which they followed up immediately with another 1-2-3 sweep of the 200 freestyle, led by Haley Bishop in 2:07.93, barely edging teammate Crissie Blomquist, who touched in 2:08.11.

Freshman Greta Olsen won the 100 fly in 1:03.09, breaking the pool record from 2015. Olsen was not the only swimmer sub-1:04 in the fly, as teammates Elizabeth Amato-Hanner and Kaitlyn Witt also stopped the clock in 1:03.61 and 1:03.93, respectively. However, both Amato-Hanner and Witt swam the race exhibition, leaving 2nd place open to Carley Wood of William Jewell, who finished in 1:09.85. Aside from the champion 200 medley relay, Olsen also swam the 50 free where she placed 2nd in a time of 27.57, losing the touch to teammate Manon Manning, who won in 27.48.

Jenny Nusbaum won the 100 free in 58.30, making her the only point-scorer to go sub-1:00. William Jewell’s Emily Sawyer and Jacqueline Leonard nabbed points with their efforts, recording times of 1:00.41 and 1:00.74, respectively. KU’s Claire Campbell and Haley Bishop, though exhibition, also broke the 1-minute barrier, touching in 58.56 and 58.74, respectively, taking a combined 7 points out of the overall pot with them.

The final pool record of the day came from Jayhawk freshman Kate Steward, who posted a time of 1:12.35 to win the 100 meter breaststroke, annihilating the former pool record of 1:13.24. William Jewell’s Delaney Haralson nabbed 2nd in 1:22.08, while teammate Hannah Balch got 3rd in 1:22.52, though it the Jayhawks did have three other swimmers in the 100 breast, exhibitioned, all of whom swam sub-1:20.

The Jayhawks ended the day with another dominant performance in the 200 freestyle relay, where the team of Nubaum, Sieperda, Haley Downey, and Manning posted a 1:48.34 to win resoundingly over William Jewell’s ‘A’ squad, which recorded a time of 1:57.54.

From the University of Kansas

LIBERTY, Mo.  – The Kansas swimming and diving team earned its sixth-straight dual-meet victory Wednesday evening after dominating the lanes at William Jewell, 149-50, inside the Mabee Center.

The Jayhawks’ kept a consistent stride throughout the meet winning all eleven events they competed in. To add to the successes, the team tallied an impressive four Mabee Center pool records during their lively performances against the Cardinals.

Junior Jenny Nusbaum was first on the blocks to set a pool record when she swam a 9:02.86 in the 800-meter freestyle, breaking the previous time set by herself two years ago (9:03.15).

Freshman Greta Olsen then worked her way to the top by breaking the 100-meter butterfly pool record set in 2015 with a time of 1:03.09 to keep the momentum rolling.

Following the trend, freshman Kate Steward swam a time of 1:12.35 in the 100-meter breaststroke to set the third pool record of the evening, swimming past the previous mark of 1:13.24.

To gain the Jayhawks’ a fourth spot on the record board, the 200-meter freestyle relay squad touched the wall in 1:48.34. The foursome of Nusbaum, senior Taylor Sieperda, sophomore Manon Manning and junior Haley Downey rounded out the evening with that performance.

KEY RACES

  • The Jayhawks’ opening 200-meter medley relay of Manning, Steward, freshman Kaitlyn Witt and junior Carly straight took the first gold of the evening with a 1:59.44 finish.
  • Nusbaum swam her way to a win and a pool record time of 9:02.86 in the 800-meter freestyle.
  • Senior Haley Bishop claimed victory in the 200-meter freestyle closing the event with a time of 2:07.93.
  • Manning swam her way into first in the 50-meter freestyle with a quick time of 27.48.
  • Junior Haley Downey swam a winning time of 4:59.50 in the 400-meter individual medley.
  • The second pool record of the evening was set by Olsen in the 100-meter butterfly touching the wall with a winning time of 1:03.09.
  • Nusbaum earned another gold with a 58.30 swim in the 100-meter freestyle.
  • Sieperda takes home first in the 100-meter backstroke, touching the wall at 1:05.21.
  • Sophomore Crissie Blomquist saw her way into first in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:23.52.
  • Steward claimed gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking the pool record with a 1:12.35.
  • The Jayhawks concluded the competition winning the 200-meter freestyle relay with a fourth pool record (1:48.34). The foursome consisted of Nusbaum, Sieperda, Manning and Down

QUOTES
Head coach Clark Campbell
How the overall meet went for the team:
“Overall it was really good. When we got back from Northern Arizona our goals for this week were to put in three really tough days in a row, this was our third day and they did great. We looked at coming over here and doing the meet as an important part of our training. We had really good, tough training on Monday and Tuesday, so we were a little tired, but they really stepped up to the challenge and got into the meet. They were very supportive of teammates and we had a lot of good things happen in the pool.”

Competing with a local college this week:
“It is really good for the swimming community when all of the local colleges can get together and have meets and support one another. We are all about swimming at this level whether it is Division I, II or III, NAIA, whatever it is. And with our area now having a lot of growth in the college swimming smaller level, I think it is really important for KU to support our smaller teams and occasionally have competitions with them and really promote the sport at a collegiate level.”

The team excitement on having four pool records:
“Jenny (Nusbaum) two years ago set the pool record with a technical suit to get the feel for it before conference. We did not wear those this year so Jenny was a little bit handicap going into the race as opposed to two years ago, and she just swam faster. Greta Olsen’s 100 butterfly record – she had a great winter training from the get-go from what we were doing before Christmas to what we were doing after in Flagstaff, (Arizona). Kate (Steward) – we are making some fine tuning adjustments to her stroke and she really caught on quick with it and so it was really good to see how fast she went today. And then the 200 freestyle relay was a really nice relay to end the meet. It was almost a three-second time drop from the pool record before, so we really feel good about where we are right now speed wise knowing that we still have a lot more to give, but it is nice to know where we are right now.”

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete against the Razorbacks Saturday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m.

From William Jewell College

The William Jewell women’s swimming team hosted the final home meet of the season on Wednesday when the Kansas Jayhawks came to the Mabee Center. Kansas took the meet 149-50.

TOP PERFORMANCES

UP NEXT
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday as they travel to McKendree for a tri-meet with the Bearcats and Missouri-St. Louis, beginning at 5 p.m.

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About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six.  At age 14 he began swimming club year-round and later with his high school team, making state all four years.  He was fortunate enough to draw the attention of Kalamazoo College where he went on to …

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