The Washington University swimming and diving teams brought their usual dominance to the University Athletic Association Championship Meet this weekend at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gearing up for the NCAA National Championships in March, the Bears totaled 32 national qualifying performances, including several swimmers who qualified for the first time of the season.
Overall, the women’s team placed third and the men placed fourth in the eight-team meet. Conference powerhouse Emory University won the meet on both the men’s and women’s sides.
The women were led by the standout performances of junior co-captain Meredith Nordbrock. Nordbrock placed first and broke pool records in all three of her individual events. Her NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:07.52 in the 200-yard individual medley was just 0.1 seconds off the conference record.
Nordbrock also notched NCAA automatic qualifying times in the 200-yard backstroke, setting a new school record with a time of 2:04.95, and in the 400-yard individual medley where she broke the UAA record with a time of 4:31.25.
Other strong individual races were turned in by sophomore Kelly Kono, freshman Jessie Lodewyk and senior Katelyn Bryll. Kono had nationally qualifying swims in the 200-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle, and the 1650-yard freestyle. Her season-best time of 5:00.56 in the 500-yard freestyle earned her an NCAA automatic time in the event, as well as a UAA individual title.
Lodewyk had a season-best swim in the 1650-yard freestyle of 17:33.24, which gave her a provisional qualifying time for nationals. Bryll earned NCAA provisional marks in the 100-yard butterfly (58.59) as well as the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.91).
The women’s overall strong performance was rounded out by a number of impressive relay swims. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Kono, Nordbrock, junior Katie Hodges, and freshman Marin Hawk broke the pool, UAA and school records with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 7:36.16, earning them the UAA title in the event.
The same relay team also won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a provisional qualifying time of 3:31.07. The team of Nordbrock, junior Jennifer Yu, junior Kristen Mann and Hawk qualified provisionally for nationals with a time of 1:49.36, earning another UAA title.
On the diving front, junior Priya Srikanth turned in her usual strong showing. Srikanth won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions with point totals of 399.55 and 454.90, respectively.
The Wash. U. men had a number of strong performances as well. The squad was paced by sophomore Kevin Leckey and junior Perry Bullock.
Bullock placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a provisional national qualifying time of 1:54.02. He also swam a season-best of 4:05.66 in the 400-yard individual medley for another provisional qualification, and qualified provisionally in the 200-yard butterfly for the first time of the season with a time of 1:54.25.
Leckey won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 46.42 and placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 20.94, qualifying him provisionally for nationals in both events. He also clocked a provisional time in the 200-yard freestyle, placing third with a time of 1:41.89.
Freshman Brian Kushner had a strong meet as well, qualifying provisionally for nationals with season-best swims in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. He placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.21, and swam the 500-yard freestyle in 4:36.23, a time eight seconds faster than his preliminary time.
Other strong swims were turned in by sophomore Julian Beattie, freshman Alex Beyer, and sophomore Mike Scarpati. Beyer won the 400-yard individual medley, improving on his provisional qualifying time with a time of 4:03.05. He also placed third in the 500-yard freestyle, provisionally qualifying for nationals in the event for the first time on the season with a time of 4:37.61.
Beattie placed third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a provisional qualifying time of 2:08.54 and placed fourth in the 1650-yard breaststroke with a provisional qualifying time of 16:19.67. Scarpati clocked a provisional qualifying time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.69, earning him his first national qualification of the season.
The men also had a pair of standout relay performances. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Kushner, Beyer, junior Ross Vimr and Leckey took home the UAA title with a NCAA provisional time of 6:49.75, breaking the pool record in the process. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Leckey, freshman Dan Arteaga, Beyer and senior Dave Stein also qualified provisionally for nationals with a time of 3:07.32. The team placed fourth in the event.
The Bears are back in action for one more meet before the NCAA Championships at next weekend’s Midwest Invitational in Chicago, Ill.