The Trinity men’s and women’s swimming teams swept the University of California-Santa Cruz in two meets at the University of Incarnate Word January Invitational last Saturday.
“Our kids stepped up pretty good and competed well,” said head swim coach John Ryan in an email. “It’s always nice to win.”
Led by first year Kara Beauchamp and sophomore Lydia Jones, the women’s team won a total of 13 events. Jones won individual freestyle events in the 50, the 200, and the 100, while Beauchamp won the 200-yard individual medley, the 400 IM, and the 200-yard breaststroke.
“Beauchamp won SCAC Swimmer of the Week honors because her 400 IM and 200 breaststroke performances were way ahead of any other conference season PRs,” Ryan said.
Sophomore Kelly Holton came in first in the 100-yard breaststroke, senior Mary Price won the 100-yard butterfly, senior Jennifer Ince won the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard backstroke and junior Melanie Gustafson won the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly. Beauchamp, Ince, first-year Leah Selznick and sophomore Christine Hoelterhoff teamed up to win the 200-yard medley relay.
“Overall, it was really good,” Beauchamp said. “Everyone had good times and did really well.”
The men’s team contributed by collecting 11 events over the two meets. First year Andrew Thiesse came in first in the 200-yard backstroke and the 1,650 yard freestyle, while first-year Nikita Chirkov won the 200-yard individual medley and the 400 IM.
Senior Spencer Bard came in first in the 100-yard butterfly, first year Brandon Tunon won the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Adam Thomas won the 50-yard freestyle and sophomore Stephen Culberson won the 100-yard freestyle.
Trinity also won the 200-yard medley relay with a team comprised of Thomas, Bard, Jones and Culberson. The Tigers now look ahead to the conference championships.
“In building to conference, we’re starting to taper, which is when you decrease the yardage but do more sprints and stroke-related stuff,” Beauchamp said.
On the other side of the pool, the Trinity men’s and women’s diving team continued the winning streak against the UIW.
“I thought it went pretty well for us,” said first year Stuart Sproul. “Unfortunately, one or two of our divers scratched in the second round, but other than those little difficulties, we all did really well.”
Senior Ruth Hahn, the defending NCAA Division III Women’s 3-meter champion, won the event with a score of 285.95, more than nine points above the second place score. Hahn came in second in the one-meter diving competition, while junior Katie Sheldon came in fifth.
For the men, first year Stuart Sproul won the three-meter and came in third in the one-meter.
“We all cheered each other on, and we’re close enough to the UIW to be friendly with each other, so there wasn’t a horrible competitive spirit,” Sproul said.
The Tigers head next to the conference championships from Feb. 13-16 in Rockwall, TX, where they will defend their SCAC titles.
“Our women are favorites to win their tenth straight conference title,” Ryan said. “The men’s meet could go to any one of four schools, Trinity included in that mix. It should be exciting.”
