Athletics & Recreation / Magazine Feature

Pioneers swimmers set school records at Ohio State Invitational

The Pioneers men finished the three-day Ohio State Invitational Dec. 2 in third place with 429 points and the Pioneers women finished fourth with 451 points. The Pioneers set 12 school records on the weekend, setting new marks in five relay races and seven individual events.

Senior Kelsey Totura won the 200-yard backstroke with a meet record and NCAA ‘A’ cut qualifying time, and junior Blake Worsley won the 100-freestyle as the University of Denver swimming and diving teams set four more school records in Columbia, Ohio. 

In addition to Totura’s school mark in the 200-back with a time of 1:57.23 and Worsley’s in the 100-free, freshman Grace Kittle set a new mark in the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:18.74 in finishing fourth and freshman Garth Summers did so in the 200-butterfly with a time of 1:49.48 in finishing sixth.

DU’s women got off to a good start in the first race of the afternoon, as the Pioneers had three of the top-10 finishers in the 1650-freestyle. Junior Michele Lowry led the way with a fifth place finish with a time of 17:00.88, in front of teammate Lindsay Brown, a sophomore, who finished eighth in 17:26.73. Sophomore Amanda McNally finished 10th with a time of 17:29.82.

Freshman Melissa Greeves won the consolation final with a time of 2:03.34 in the 200-butterfly.

On the men’s side, junior Daniel Vollmer won the consolation final of the 200-backstroke with a time of 1:48.44. Worsley’s swim in the 100-freestyle followed, as he just missed out on an NCAA ‘B’ standard time with his time of 44.66. The NCAA ‘B’ cut standard is 44.65.

“This was a fun meet for our team,” head coach Brian Schrader said. “This was a great test for us and we had some fantastic swims. Anytime you set 12 school records in a meet you can say you were successful, and we definitely were this weekend.”

DU is next in action on Dec. 19 when both teams take on Florida Atlantic and Northwestern in Boca Raton, Fla.

Team scores
Men: 1. Minnesota 1168.5; 2. Ohio State 1074; 3. Denver 429; 4. Notre Dame 401; 5. Michigan State 300.5; 6. Iowa 250; 7. Indiana 64; 8. Alabama 55; 9. Purdue 49; 10. Hawaii 44; 11. Arizona State 36; 12. Miami 20; 13. South Carolina 16

Women:
1. Minnesota 1296; 2. Ohio State 691.5; 3. Iowa 455; 4. Denver 451; 5. Michigan State 325.5; 6. Illinois 257.5; 7. Bowling Green 214.5; 8. Purdue 73; 9. Miami 51; 10. Hawaii 50; 11. Arizona State 42; 12. Alabama 33; 13. Indiana 29; 14. Notre Dame 16; 15. South Carolina 15

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