Making a Cardinal Splash
Issue   |   Wed, 11/30/2011 - 02:16
Justin Long
Maddy Sprung-Keyser '13 placed second in the 200 backstroke and third in the 100 backstroke against Colby.

The swimming and diving teams kicked off their season with dominant wins over Colby and Wesleyan. The first-year class had a spectacular debut, winning a number of events.

The men’s team earned a 179-94 victory over the Mules on the Nov. 19. The combination of Conor Deveney ’15, Ben McBratney ’12, Tyler Bulakul ’14 and Tim White ’12 won the 200-yard medley relay by over four seconds. The Jeffs took first and second place in the 200 free relay to close out the meet.

Parker Moody ’14 won the 1,000 free with a 10:11.61, and Ryan Lichtenfels ’12, Nick Egan ’14 and Alex Pearlman ’12 finished in the top three spots in the 200 free. The Jeffs also went one, two and three in the 100 free, led by first-year Connor Sholtis with a 49.43. Egan and Craig Campbell ’15 were close on his heels with times of 49.47 and 49.56, respectively.

The Jeffs also had the top three finishers in the 100 and 200 backstroke events, both led by Deveney with a 53.37 and 1:55.11, respectively. Bulakul came in second in the 100 by just .5 seconds, with Daniel Schwab ’13 and Aron Reynolds ’14 tying for third. Michael Rochford ’15 was just a second behind Deveney in the 200, with Reynolds taking third.

The Jeffs were also dominant in the butterfly events, taking 1-2-3-4 in the 200. Rochford led the pack by three seconds with a 57.40, followed by Conor McAuliffe ’14, Ben Grimes ’15 and Peter Landefeld ’14. Bulakul took first place in the 100-yard event, stopping the clock at 52.84, while McBratney came in second.

Seniors Bart Federak and Mike O’Connor took the top two places in the 100-yard breastroke, and divers Colin White ’14 and Mark Idleman ’15 won first and second in both the one-meter and three-meter boards.

The women’s team was equally impressive, defeating Colby 173-93. They won first through third in the 200 medley relay and first in the 200 freestyle relay. The winning medley relay team consisted of Maddy Sprung-Keyser ’13, Lulu Belak ’14, Allison Merz ’14 and Katie Vincett ’13. First-years Ashleigh Stoddart and Stephanie Ternullo joined Belak and Vincett in the 200 free relay.

The Jeffs dominated the freestyle events. Co-captain Becca Thompson ’12 won the 1,000 freestyle in 10:53.09, while Audrey Ingerson ’14 placed third. Ternullo won the 200 free with a 1:57.25 with Stoddart and Anna Pietrantonio ’14 finishing second and third. The Jeffs also took first, second and third in the 50 free, with Vincett edging out Belak by just .8 seconds while Ricka Sadovnikoff ’15 took third.

First-years Sabrina Lee and Aline Kim finished first and second in the 100 backstroke, with Lee stopping the clock at 59.57. Thompson won the 200 back with a 2:12.60 with Sprung-Keyser less than a second behind. Kim took third in the 200 to round out yet another top-three Jeff finish.

Two first-years also snagged the top two spots in the 100 breaststroke. Courtney Flynn ’15 swam a 1:10.32, while Kenzie Heaton ’15 and Sprung-Keyser finished second and third. Junior Nicole Heise swept the butterfly events with a 1:00.57 in the 100-yard event and a 2:13.00 in the 200. Cassie Gross ’14 and Annie Glancy ’13 came in second and third in the 200 while Merz, Suzi Stein ’14 and Glancy took second, third and fourth in the 100.

Sophomore diver Claire Wagner won both the one- and three-meter boards while Niahlah Hope ’15 came in third on the one-meter.

The Jeffs traveled to Wesleyan on Monday Nov. 21 and desimated the Cardinals, winning all 26 events. Amherst’s tremendous success was spread throughout the team, as Vincett was the only Jeff to win two events. The men’s team won 194-42 and the women were 184-46.

The men’s team opened the meet with Deveney, Bulakul, McBratney and Tim White winning the 400 medley relay, an event that the Jeffs consistently dominated last season. First-years Sholtis and Deveney continued their success in the sprint freestyle events, winning the 50 (22.57) and 100 (48.41) again, respectively. Sam Cagenello ’15 took the 200 free with a 1:47.20 while McAuliffe won the 500 in 1:56.74. Lichtenfels won the 1,000 free with a 9:42.60. Diver Colin White won the one-meter dive, and Idleman had the highest score on the three-meter board.

Bulakul won the 200 butterfly (1:56.74) and Reynolds took first in the 200 backstroke (2:00.63). Conor Beaulieu ’14 won the 200 breaststroke. Rochford edged out Beaulieu in the 400 individual medley (IM) with a time of 4:08.64. The men ended the day with another relay victory when Bulakul, Sholtis, Tim White and Egan combined for the 400 free relay.

Vincett led the women with victories in the 100-and 200-yard freestyle events. She also anchored the 400 freestyle relay, finishing for her team at 3:41.97. Stoddart, Thompson and Ternullo won the 50 (25.00), 500 (5:18.59) and 1,000 (10:36.18) free events, respectively.

Flynn won the 200 breaststoke (2:24.99), out-touching sophomore Abby Hahn by just five one-100ths of a second. Lee won the 200 back (2:08.72) and Gross placed first in the 200 fly (2:13.56). Heise came in first in the 400 IM with a 4:46.50. The first-year team of Lee, Flynn, Stoddart and Sadovnikoff won the 400 medley relay.

Lizzy Linsmayer ’14 won the one- and three-meter diving events. Wagner was the runner-up on both boards.
The Jeffs swim at home this Saturday, hosting Middlebury at the Pratt Pool.