Sophomore Peter Brengel placed first in the 100-yard backstroke, with a time that qualified him to compete at the National Championships, where he will also be competing in the 200-yard backstroke. (Susannah Maiken)
The Lawrence University
Swim Team hosted the
Midwest Conference Swimming
Championships last weekend in
the Buchanan-Kiewit Recreation
Center, finishing fourth on the
men’s side and seventh on the
women’s side of the nine-team
competition.
On the first day of the meet,
LUST took home several top-five
finishes.
The women’s 200-yard freestyle
A-team started things off
with a fourth-place finish with a
time of 1:45.75, edging out the
fifth-place team from Knox College
by 0.03 seconds.
The men’s A-team for the same
event matched the women, taking
fourth with a time of 1:29.30, comfortably
ahead of the fifth-place
team from Beloit College.
In the individual events, junior
Mac Watson took home another
fourth-place finish in the 500-yard
freestyle with a time of 4:54.63.
Sophomore Peter Brengel took
home yet another fourth-place finish
for the team in the 50-yard
freestyle with a time of 22.44 seconds.
Sophomore Tom Smith broke
LUST’s streak of fourth-place finishes
by taking third place in the
200-yard individual medley with a
time of 2:01.48, just 0.24 seconds
behind the second-place finisher,
Cyrus Mistry of Grinnell College.
To round out a solid day for
the men’s team, the LUST A-team
took third place comfortably in the
400-yard medley relay with a time
of 3:37.93.
On Saturday, the second day of
competition, things started to heat
up for the LUST.
The men’s A-team took second
in the 200-yard medley relay with a
time of 1:38.14, just 0.08 seconds
behind the first place team from
Grinnell. Junior Rebecca Hamlyn
then took second place in the
100-yard butterfly with a time of
1:00.20, narrowly missing first
place by 0.02 seconds.
Watson took home his second
fourth-place finish of the meet in
the 200-yard freestyle with a time
1:48.31 in a close finish for all of
the top five finishers.
Smith also took home yet
another fourth-place finish for the
men’s team with a time of 1:01.42
in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Hamlyn grabbed her second
podium finish of the day in the
100-yard backstroke, taking third
with a time of 1:03.14.
Brengel then snagged the first
victory of the meet for Lawrence,
winning the 100-yard backstroke
with a time of 52.20, which was also
fast enough to qualify him for the
NCAA B National Championships.
The meet still had some excitement
left to give on Sunday, the
third and final day of competition.
Brengel won another race, the
200-yard backstroke, with a time
of 1:53.90. This time again surpasses
the NCAA B cut, meaning
that Brengel will compete in two
events at the NCAA B National
Championships.
Hamlyn provided the last notable
finish for a Lawrence swimmer
in the 200-yard butterfly taking
fourth with a time of 2:20.82.
Overall, the men’s team finished
fourth with a score of
365.50, and the women’s team finished
seventh with a score of 271.
Except for Peter Brengel, who
will be competing at the National
Championships, the LU swim team
is done with its season. Both the
men’s and women’s teams look
to build on their success from
this year as both the men and the
women return a strong core of
young swimmers.
Sophomore Peter Brengel placed first in the 100-yard backstroke, with a time that qualified him to compete at the National Championships, where he will also be competing in the 200-yard backstroke. (Susannah Maiken)