TU vs Southwestern

FY Kelly Holton - 100 & 200 BR double event winner

November already - The fall semester continues to fly on by! Last weekend our swimmers competed with Southwestern University and came away with wins in both the men's and the women's meets.

SO Melanie Gustafson on her way to a
win in the 200 butterfly.

Trinity's women got the meet off to a good start with a win in the 200 medley relay. Christine Hoelterhoff, Kelly Holton, Mary Price, and Lydia Jones posted a 1:53.81 and looked good doing it. Three of the four are first-year Tigers, which is good news for the future. Sophomore Melanie Gustafson was a double event winner for us, taking the 1000 freestyle (10:57.37) and the 200 butterfly (2:14.16). First-Year Kelly Holton also captured a couple of wins, taking both the 100 and the 200 breaststroke races. She matched her own PR in the 100 and hit a lifetime best in the 200 - great job there!

The women's 400 freestyle relay.
Junior Co-Captain Rachel Berude anchoring.

Other TU women winners were FY Sarah Miller in the 200 freestyle, FY Christine Hoelterhoff in the 50 freestyle, FY Lydia Jones in the 100 freestyle, Sophomore Meghan Varner in the 500 freestyle, Junior Mary Price in the 100 butterfly, and Junior Lisa Tucci in the 200 IM. Lydia, Meghan, Mary, and Junior Rachel Berude finished things off with a win the 400 freestyle relay.

SO Katie Sheldon competing on the 3-meter.

Junior Ruth Hahn competing on 3-meter.

Because Southwestern has no divers, our diving team competed with the Universty of the Incarnate Word's diving team. Sophomore Katie Sheldon (SCAC Diver of the Week) slipped by TU All-American team-mate Ruth Hahn in the 1-meter contest, posting a score of 219.80. Ruth came back to win the 3-meter diving event with a score of 243.90. Ruth finished 3rd at last year's NCAA Division III Championships, and is looking great as she gets her 2011-2012 season in motion. We expect our women divers to be pretty awesome again this winter!!

FY Stephen Culberson leading the pack on the
backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay.

In the men's meet, we got things going with a 6 second win in the 200 medley relay. FY Stephen Culberson jumped us off to a quick start on the backstroke leg (26.18) and we never looked back. He gave Hunter Banister a lead going into breaststoke, and then Senior Drew Cauthorn and FY Kevin Thomas sealed the deal on the win. Southwestern didn't have anyone up for the 1000 freestyle so we passed on the event as well. That won't be the case in our upcoming meet with UT Permian Basin. While we swam a lot of guys in races other than their specialties, we did see some good performances in a number of races.

Senior Matt Wey during the 100 breaststroke.

Senior Kevin Martin competing in the
3-meter event.

Senior Matt Wey was a double winner, taking both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM. Junior Spencer Bard had the best single event performance for us, clocking a 52.67 in the 100 butterfly. Great swim for him this early! Other event winners were Sophomore Arthur Daigh (200 freestyle), Senior Zach Dielmann (100 backstroke), FY Kevin Thomas (50 freestyle), FY Stephen Culberson (200 backstroke), Sophomore Lucas Belury (200 breaststroke), and Junior Mike Brew (500 freestyle). The Tiger men won every individual event, which put smiles on a lot of faces. Not to be overlooked or under appreciated, our divers also stepped up against UIW and did a good job. Senior Kevin Martin earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Week honors with scores of 231.80 on the 1-meter and 238.80 on the 3-meter boards. He looked really, really good for it being October (and our opening meet).

We wrapped up the day with Michael Patton, Stephen Culberson, Kevin Thomas, and Zach Dielmann taking the 400 freestyle relay. Trinity men 143 - Southwestern 56. A good day at the pool!

-Coach Ryan