MONMOUTH, Ill. – Buoyed by some
outstanding personal performances, the Monmouth College men’s swim
team posted a runaway victory in their own Monmouth Invitational
Saturday while the Scots women finished a strong third.
The Scots’ Kevin Raske’s
performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle epitomized the men’s
dominance. His winning time of 16:58.70 set the new school and pool
records and was nearly two full minutes faster than the second-place
swimmer. The freshman also set a school and pool record while
winning the 200- butterfly (1:58.92) and was joined by John Kaiser,
Kurt Niemeier and Tom Pederson on the winning 200- freestyle relay
team. The relay team also set a new pool record with their time of
1:32.20. Raske rounded out his firsts with a win in the 100-
backstroke (56.39).
Other firsts for the Scots came
from Josh Van Swol, Jon Peterson, Joe Moran and Kevin Satler in the
200-yard medley relay (1:48.05), Satler in the 400- IM (4:46.73) and
Niemeier in the 100- freestyle (49.70). Seconds came from Niemeier
in the 50- freestyle (22.93), Peterson in the 100- breaststroke
(1:04.25), Satler in the 200- breaststroke (2:23.68) and Kaiser in
the 100- butterfly (58.35).
The Scots’ victory margin of more
than 200 points was not a complete surprise to Monmouth coach Keith
Crawford. “Going in, I felt our collective depth was far superior,”
he commented.
The Monmouth women also turned in a
strong performance, taking first or second in four events. Sophomore
Anne Lane led the way, winning the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.78) and
the 200- freestyle (2:05.54) and finishing second in the 400- IM
(4:56.55). Swimming in her final home meet, senior Heather Plum
touched first in the 1,650- freestyle (19:49.67).
The Scots picked up their first
victory over conference member Carroll College at the meet, a feat
that was not lost on the Scots head coach. “It was a pleasant
surprise to see the women finish as high as they did,” Crawford
said. “It bodes well to know we can compete with them (Carroll).
That means we can have a goal to move into the top three at the
conference meet this year.”
Monmouth’s swim team will travel to
the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational this Saturday before taking next
week off for Thanksgiving break.
Men's
Swimming |
Women's Swimming
