The Colorado College Tigers visited San Antonio this past weekend for a conference dual meet with our own Trinity Tigers. The hometown team prevailed, winning the women's meet 171.5 to 62.5 and the men's competition by a score of 135 to 104. We saw some good racing and a bunch of season PR's so it was a fun afternoon.
Our women were provided with a little incentive to do well on Saturday after reading on Colorado College's webpage a quote that "...Trinity's strength in diving makes them almost untouchable. They're beatable on the swimming side...". We appreciated the respect given to our diving team, but felt our esteemed opponents were choosing to underestimate our swimmers and the pride we take in representing Trinity !
The diving competition took place at 12:00 noon and, as expected, Trinity went 1 - 2 - 3 on both boards. Katie Sheldon scored 224.70 on 1-meter, with Lynne Bettinger (222.60) and Ruth Hahn (218.30) right behind. Pretty impressive, given that Ruth was Honorable Mention All-American in this event last winter. She came back to win the 3-meter contest, finishing ahead of Katie and Lynne as the three posted scores of 246.40, 228.25, and 224.60 on the high board. Our divers did their job well and, at that point, it was up to the swimmers to prove that they were not as "beatable" as CC claimed us to be.
Christine Hoelfterhoff, Kelly Holton, Captain Mary Price, and Lydia Jones got the racing off to a good start with a win in the 200 medley relay. Three first-years and a junior - we like it when our rookies make an impact ! Trinity then went 1 - 2 in the 1000 freestyle (Melanie Gustafson and Marisa Olmo), the 200 freestyle (Lydia Jones and Rachel Berude), the 50 freestyle (Rachel Berude and Christine Hoelterhoff), the 200 IM (Lisa Tucci and Morgan Briggs), the 100 butterfly (Mary Price and Meghan Varner), the 100 freestyle (Lydia Jones and Rachel Berude), the 100 backstroke (Rachel Hure and Christine Hoelterhoff), and the 500 freestyle (Melanie Gustafson and Marisa Olmo again). The 100 breaststroke was the one and only individual event we didn't sweep 1 - 2, although Kelly Holton won it for us with a PR. We exhibitioned our 400 freestyle relay entries. There was no question as to which Tiger team trimmed the other's sails. Better yet, make that "tails". All puns aside, Trinity's women prevailed !
That said, the SCAC Championships are in February and there's a lot of training and racing to be done between now and then. Centre has to be this year's conference favorite, but we'll give them a good run for it once we're full strength. Saturday, first-year Sarah Miller sat out the meet sick. Keep in mind, too, the fact that our best sprinter (Ana Price), our best backstroker (Jennifer Ince), and our next best flyer (Leslie Butts) are all doing study abroad this fall. They'll be back for the SCAC's come February. We'll be doing some hard work in the upcoming weeks so as to do our best to try and capture our 9th straight SCAC title in Rockwall, TX, when the conference teams convene for our annual championship meet.
While not as dominant as our women, Trinity's Tigermen stepped up, raced hard, and put up their fair share of wins and good times on the way to a 31 point win over the CC team. Our divers got things off to a terrific start with Kevin Martin and Matt Hawley finishing 1 - 3 on both boards. Kevin took the 1 - meter with a score of 288.20 and the 3 - meter with a 263.85 tally, which put us up 24 to 14 going into the swimming events.
The meet opened with the 200 medley relay, where first-year Stephen Culberson got things started with a 25.95 backstroke split. Hunter Banister, Spencer Bard (22.94 on the fly), and Aaron Shaver then combined to win an exciting race by a 1:38.47 to 1:38.78 margin. The point spread jumped to 35 to 18 and the meet was maybe over at that point, as CC had committed four of their five big guns (including senior All-American Jordan DeGayner) to a losing cause, netting but 4 points. We then went 1 - 2 in the 1000 freestyle, with Lucas Belury (10:15.23) and Mike Brew doing the honors. CC countered with a 1 - 2 of their own in the 200, only to have Trinity first-year Kevin Thomas capture the 50, with Aaron Shaver and Adam Thomas taking 3rd and 4th overall. Alex Miranda and Matt Wey then raced neck and neck through the 200 IM with Alex leading yet another TU 1 - 2. The two were dead even at the 150 and finished with times of 2:01.75 and 2:02.17, respectively. All in all, we captured four out of the meets first five events.
The 100 fly was a barnburner. Junior Spencer Bard got out quick and reached the 50 with a slight lead over CC's DeGayner (24.07 to 24.16). They touched together at the 75, but then the Big Cat's best swimmer got home faster, stopping the clock at 51.56 to Spencer's 52.30. Great racing ! Aaron Shaver came back for us with a 49.57 win in the 100 freestyle, followed by Stephen Culberson and Zach Dielmann recording a 1 - 2 finish in the 100 backstroke (56.40 and 56.74). Lots of points for Trinity with that sweep. The broom came out again in the 500 when Miranda and Belury posted times of 4:53.65 and 4:58.58, giving us an insurmountable lead. Colorado's Tyler Larrabee nipped Hunter Banister in the 100 breaststroke and CC took the 400 freestyle relay, but the final score read Trinity 135 - Colorado College 104. It was a gratifying win, made sweeter by the fact that they are arguably one of the three best men's teams in the SCAC. We definitely look forward to DeGayner graduating this coming spring, as he is the kind of swimmer who can inspire an entire team when it counts.
The SCAC Championships will take place in Rockwall (TX) about three months from now, so it's evident that we have a lot of work to do between now and then. The past weekend provided us with a glimpse of the level of competitiveness we'll be facing come next February. If we're ready, it'll be fun !!
Next up is the Tiger Southwest Shootout in the DFW metroplex, where we'll be hosting an invitational meet at the Carroll ISD Natatorium on November 18 and 19. That too, should be fun. Apart from some good racing, everyone is looking forward to the fact that the meet is immediately chased by the Thanksgiving recess. Swimmers love food and Thanksgiving is all about that, not to mention family reunions and a few days of reprieve from academia. We hope everyone on our team and all of our fans enjoy the upcoming holiday !!
-Coach Ryan
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