Courtesy: Rhodes Athletics
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Taking on the defending Southern Athletic Association champions in their home pool, Rhodes College women’s swimming defeated the Panthers of Birmingham-Southern College 145-143 while also competing against Millsaps and NCAA Division II the University of West Florida.
“It was great to go into the defending conference champs team pool and pull out the victory,” said head coach Steve Webb. “Sinead Eksteen, Madi Griffin and Mia Harris collectively set the tone for the women, totaling eight of our 10 wins in 14 swim events against BSC. I’m really happy with the energy from the team throughout the meet. It sets us up well for the rest of the season.”
The Rhodes women, ranked second among NCAA Division III schools in dual points with 563.75 points, had two Lynx break program records. Sophomore transfer Sinead Eksteen, who broke the 500 free record in the season opener, broke the 1000 free record (10:17.02) this weekend while freshman Mia Harris broke the 200 fly mark (2:08.69). From this weekend’s meet, Eksteen is ranked first in DIII in the 1000 free, and 100 back (57.83) and second in the 50 back (27.22), while Harris is ranked fourth in the 100 (58.41) and 200 fly events. Sophomore Lilli Metts has two times from this weekend among national top-10 times. She is ranked fourth in the 400IM (4:56.65) and ninth in the 200 back. The women’s 200 free relay team of Madi Griffin, Mary Beth Baker, Nancy Hulslander and Mia Harris raced the Lynx to victory in the final race to defeat BSC. The team’s time of 1:40.82 is ranked fourth nationally.
On the day, the women five events as Eksteen won the 1000 free, 500 free and 100 back while Harris won the 100 fly and 200 fly.
The men’s 200 free relay team of Evan Ziolkowski, Arrington Moses, Harrison Rozman and Lutfi Lasida won the final event of the day. Their time of 1:28.75 is ranked eighth in DIII. Ziokowski also won the 50 free and the 100 free. His 100 free time of 47.83 is seventh in the nation. Also in the top-10 from this meet are Roland Chang who placed second in the 500 free (4:58.46) and Ryan Folk who is 10th in the 400IM (5:08.81).
Full race results can be found at the link above. The meet’s dual scores can be found below:
Men
Rhodes 167 vs. Millsaps 30
BSC 200 vs. Rhodes 73
BSC 239 vs. Millsaps 18
Women
UWF 217 vs. Rhodes 77
UWF 283 vs. Millsaps 2
Rhodes 239 vs. Millsaps 7
UWF 261 vs. BSC 39
Rhodes 145 vs. BSC 143
BSC 262.5 vs. Millsaps 8.5
Charlie Boehme did an insane job recruiting and building the Rhodes program into something special. So bummed to see him leave the program, but this recruiting class just shows what an amazing job he did. Excited to see Steve build upon that solid foundation.
It looks like it’s gonna be an almost purfect season for those lynx cats!
#SORry
How to start the season!!! Go Lynx!
Rhodes is going to be force to be reckoned with for years to come! They have the fire power to be a top 15 team in the country this season.