Swimming & diving teams compete at A3 Carthage Classic

KENOSHA, Wis. – The Olivet College men's and women's swimming & diving teams competed at the three-day A3 Carthage Classic inside the Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

THE RESULTS

• Women – 10th-place with 334 points
• Men – 8th-place with 507 points

FOR THE WOMEN

• Freshman Ana Paula Montes de Oca was named "Female Swimmer of the Meet." She swam in four individual events and won three in a school-record time. On day one, Montes de Oca set the school record in the 1,650-yard freestyle by more than 38 seconds at 17:36.67. On day two, she had a record time in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:11.63. On day three, Montes de Oca posted school-record time in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:56.33. In her fourth event, 200-yard butterfly, she placed second with a season-best and second-best time in school history at 2:10.92.
• Sophomore Katie Hansel achieved a personal-best time of 1:00.12 in the 100-yard freestyle.
• Junior Samantha Butler had a PR in both the 100-yard backstroke (1:08.40) and 200-yard backstroke (2:31.35).
• Freshman Abby Campbell qualified for the finals in 100-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 57.94 seconds.
• Freshman Keanalanimeleo'kekai Kunz made the finals in 200-yard breaststroke and then dropped another four seconds in the finals for a season-best time of 2:56.37. She also posted a season-best in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:19.62.
• Junior Delaney Graham finished the 200-yard freestyle in a career-best time of 2:08.93.
• Hansel, Campbell and Graham all made it back for the finals in the 50-yard freestyle and recorded times of :26.17, :26.44 and :26.83, respectively.
• Senior Emma Cole had a season-best time of 6:04.35 in the 500-yard freestyle.

FOR THE MEN

• On Thursday night, sophomore Zach Meharg placed eighth in the 1,650-yard freestyle at 17:16.63. Junior Bryan Plesner was 16th in the same event at 18:04.29.
• Sophomore Eric Wood finished ninth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.40) and 10th in the 50-yard freestyle (:22.45). He also won the "B" final of the 500-yard freestyle in a career-best time of 4:56.58 and posted a season-best time of 49.23 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle to place 14th. During the prelims of the 200 free, Wood posted a lifetime-best at 1:47.28.
• Meharg recorded personal-best times of 5:03.68 in the 500 free, 2:24.04 in the 200-yard breaststroke and 4:28.76 in the 400-yard individual medley.
• Plesner had a career-best time of 2:08.75 in the 200-yard backstroke and swam a lifetime-best 58.31 seconds to make the finals of the 100-yard butterfly.
• Three freshmen – Patrick Gault, Kolton Epplett and Tony Farmer – achieved season-best times in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:22.90, 2:23.31 and 2:27.54, respectively.
• Sophomore Tom Decker had a season-best time of 24.02 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.
• Freshman Ian Bishop made finals in both the 100-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle.
• Epplett competed in the 200-yard butterfly for the first time ever. After recording a time of 2:26.44 in the prelims, he dropped almost four seconds in the finals with a time of 2:22.84.

QUOTE FROM OLIVET COLLEGE HEAD COACH ROB BROWNELL

• "Ana's 200 free swim was probably the most exciting swim of the invitational. She overcame a half-body length deficit at the 100 mark to pass two other competitors and win the event in record-breaking fashion. Overall, the meet was a huge success for us as a team, both in the water and out. In the pool, every single person had at least a couple of best times.  Out of the pool, I can see the team really starting to bond and come together.  I cannot wait for our training trip!"

UP NEXT

• Olivet is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Dec. 13-20 for its winter training.