The Lawrence University Swim Team had a spectacular performance at the MWC championships in Grinnell, Iowa last weekend. After three days and 40 events, both the men and women stood in third place overall out of nine teams.
Day one of the competition consisted of 12 events, with both the men’s and women’s sides of Lawrence’s team putting forth a good showing.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Lawrence A team, consisting of Sarah Bostrom, Hannah Gabriel, Chelsea Hameister and Julia Heller, took fourth place with a final time of 1:43.99. Freshman Gabriel also performed well in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in with a time of 5:11.84 to take second place.
Kelsey Gray, Katie Obermiller, Rebecca Hamlyn and Hameister, comprising the Lawrence A team for the 400-yard freestyle took fifth place after finishing with a time of 4:19.09.
On the men’s side of the competition, Peter Brengel, Patrick Vincent, Charlie Mann and Evan Flack finished with a time of 1:26.37 in the 200-yard freestyle relay to take second place. Brengel also swam well in the 50-yard freestyle, coming in with a final time of 21.60 to take second place. Freshman Mann also did well in the same event, coming in fourth with a time of 21.86. In the 400-yard medley relay, the A team, consisting of Brengel, Tom Smith, Flack and Mann took third place after finishing in 3:32.96.
Smith also swam a time of 2:00.93 in the 200-yard individual medley to finish in fourth place. Freshman Ted Chritton took fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle after swimming for a final time of 4:54.02.
Day two of the championships proved to be a bit tougher for LUST; nevertheless, there were still quite a few standout performances.
On the women’s side of the competition, the A team for the 200-yard medley relay clocked in with a time of 1:57.53 to take fifth place. Freshman Gabriel continued to swim well, grabbing the swim team’s first win of the meet by finishing the 200-yard freestyle in an impressive time of 1:56.89. In the 800-yard medley relay, the Lawrence A team clocked in a final time of 8:05.12 to take second place.
The Lawrence men’s “A” team for the 200-yard medley relay finished the event with a time of 1:36.18 to take third place. Freshman Flack clocked in a time 1:46.61 to take fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle, while junior Brengel finished third in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.73.
The Lawrence men finished out the second day of competition with a fourth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The final day of competition proved to be much like the first, with the LUST finishing in the top five spots in many of the day’s events.
Gabriel once again put forth a stellar performance, taking second place in the 1650-yard freestyle after clocking in a time of 18:17.76. Sophomore Heller came in with a final time of 55.90 to take fifth place in the 100-yard freestyle.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, freshman Obermiller finished in fifth place with a time of 2:38.54. The women finished the competition with a third place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay after clocking in at 3:42.60.
On the men’s side, freshman Chritton clocked in at 17:26.89 in the 1650-yard freestyle to take fourth place. Brengel sustained his excellent performance, taking second place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:53.54. The Lawrence men finished the competition with a third place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a final time of 3:11.81.