Feb. 17, 2008 - For the fourth year in a row, the Truman women’s swim team triumphed at the New South Intercollegiate Conference Championships, beating out
Day 4 Recap
Propelled by a sweep of the top three spots in the 100 free, a win in the 400 free relay, and several other strong performances, the Bulldogs maintained their lead from the third day of competition. Kate Aherne won the 100 free in 52.10, an ‘A’ cut time, followed by Emily Pufall in 53.15 and Molly Polette in 53.50. Aherne was also victorious in the 400 free, teaming up with Emily Pufall, Kendra Brunkow and Carina Pautz with a time of 3:29.02, good enough for another ‘A’ cut. In the 200 backstroke, Whitney Wodstrchill touched the wall in 2:03.08 for an ‘A’ cut and a second place finish, and Laura Harp finished fourth in the 200 fly, coming in at 2:11.95. Finally, in the 200 breaststroke, Erika Anderson, Emily Buss and Danielle Odenthal captured third, fourth and fifth place, with times of 2:23.84, 2:24.84 and 2:25.08 respectively, boosting the team’s lead.
On the men’s side, the team finished fifth in the standings behind Missouri S&T, OBU,
The Bulldogs only have a “Last-Chance Meet” slated for a February 23 and 23 before heading to the NCAA Championships, which start March 12. The women will be looking to reach the top of the podium once more after finishing second last year, while the men will try to better their 15th place finish at nationals.
Day 3 Recap
Led by first place finishes in the 800 free relay and the 200 free, Truman was able to maintain their lead over
In the 400 IM, Wodstrchill raced to second place, with a 4:31.79 ‘A’ cut, while Emily Greenwood and Kate Aherne finished second and third in the 100 backstroke, coming in at 58.08 and 58.12 respectively. Laura Harp swam to fourth in the 100 fly with a time of 58.77, and Erika Anderson also picked up a fourth place finish in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:05.83.
Meanwhile, the men have scored 364 points so far and sit in fifth place, as MS&T leads the pack with 555.5 points. The relay team of Alex Totura, Darren McDivitt, John Gloss and Jason Stokes came in fifth in the 800 free relay with an ‘A’ cut time of 7:02.39. Gloss and McDivitt finished sixth and seventh in the 200 free, clocking in at 1:46.21 and 1:46.89 respectively, and Totura captured another sixth place finish in the 100 fly, touching the wall in 51.66. In the 400 IM, Kyle Ruiz helped his team with a seventh place finish, coming in at 4:07.74.
Both Bulldog teams have one more night of competition to prove their mettle before the championships come to a close on Saturday. Final events are scheduled to start at 5:00 pm and will be followed by an awards ceremony.
Day 2 Recap
The women won every event they competed in Thursday night to storm past
For the men, Jason Stokes had the best performance of the night, picking up second place in the 50 free at 20.89, an ‘A’ cut time. Peter McCall came in fifth in the same event, clocking in at 21.41 for a ‘B’ cut. In the 500 free, Jon Strom was the first Truman swimmer to touch the wall, coming in seventh at 4:52.25, and Adam Pruess swam to eighth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:58.32. The 200 free relay team of Stokes, Alex Totura, Peter McCall and Andrew McCall captured third with an ‘A’ cut time of 1:24.39, and Stokes also swam on the sixth-place 400 medley relay squad with Totura, Pruess and Paul Wanamaker, coming in at 3:28.91. The men currently sit in fourth place behind OBU, Missouri S&T and
Friday’s finals kick off at 6:00 pm in the second-to-last day of competition. The meet will conclude on Saturday with trophy presentations and awards for men’s and women’s Coach of the Year.
Day 1 Recap
On the women’s side, the Bulldogs picked up 67 points in the first night of competition and currently stand in second place, behind
While the women look to make up the gap in the standings, the men are locked in a tight battle with Ouachita Baptist and Missouri S&T. They’re currently in third place with 77 points, only four points behind S&T and nine behind OBU. The best result of the night went to the 200 medley team of Alex Totura, Adam Pruess, Peter McCall and Jason Stokes, as they picked up second place in their event, finishing in 1:33.62. In the only other scoring event of day one, Jon Strom surged to a seventh place finish in the 1000 free, touching the wall in 9:51.52, while teammate Krish Singhal also made the top ten, swimming to ninth in 10:00.50.
The action picks up again this evening at 6:00, as teams head back to the pool for five more final events on each side. After tonight’s action, there will be two more days of competition to determine this year’s conference championships, concluding on Saturday. Truman is looking to repeat as champs on the women’s side, and the men hope to better their second-place finish from last year.