The Maroons’ regular season came to a close with the Midwest Invitational at Myers-McLoraine Pool this weekend. The women’s team finished in second place with 300 points behind Emory University’s 356, while the men’s team took third place (380 points) behind Emory and Case Western Reserve University.
With countless school, pool, and personal records falling, this season has been one of the best in the history of the Maroons. The Midwest Invitational was the ideal finale to months of triumph.
“For many of us, Midwest was a great end to a great year. There were tons of personal best times, and even a school record by [first-year] Rolland Lee,” second-year Brian Yan said.
Yan, fourth-year Evan Bernard, third-year Dave Thomas, and first-year David Tong all contributed to half of the men’s race wins. The relay team led the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:31.59. Fourth-year Eric Hallman, who led the 100-yard freestyle in 46.27s, also contributed to the men’s two race wins.
The women swam away with five race wins in a combination of individual and relay events. Second-year Ciara Hu took the victory in the 400-yard IM and 200-yard butterfly with times of 4:30.58 and 2:06.26, and fellow second-year Jen Law dominated the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.32s. Following her older sister’s example, first-year Michelle Law helped third-year captain Jenny Hill, second-year Jenna Harris, and first-year Maya Scheidl win both the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley.
“The team performed better than ever before. We’re putting up faster records and more national qualifiers. Also, the team’s success has motivated more intense offseason training than ever before,” Thomas said.
This motivation will be crucial in the team’s preparation for the NCAA DIII Championships in several weeks. There is ample excitement surrounding the prospect of more records being smashed at the tournament.
This enthusiasm has led some of the athletes to begin looking ahead to next season. “Next year the team will miss the leadership of [fourth-years] Eric Hallman, Evan Bernard, Cathy Chen, and Vivian Yeun. It was a blast swimming with them,” Yan said. “We look forward to welcoming a new [first-year] class, and expect another record-breaking year in 2015.”
Men’s and Women’s NCAA Diving Zones will be Friday and Saturday, February 28–March 1 in Granville, Ohio. NCAA Division III Championships will take place March 19 in Indianapolis.
