Division III Recap: Pomona-Pitzer Sweeps SCIAC Titles

Pomona-Pitzer won both the men’s and women’s 2019 SCIAC Championships this weekend. The men won by a solid margin, scoring 1,125.5 points to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ 984.5 points. On the women’s side the Sagehens scored 1,114.5 points while CMS was 39 behind with 1,071.5 points.

Women

The women’s meet was dominated by Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Only two swimming events were not won by the Sagehens or the Athenas.

Pomona-Pitzer senior Angela Ling led a sweep of the 100 backstroke, touching in 55.69 ahead of fellow senior Sarah Jin in 56.17. Sophomore Allison Liu was third in 57.20. Ling won the 200 back with a 2:03.23 while Jin touched second in 2:04.12.

Pomona-Pitzer senior Mackenzie Cummings added a 100 breaststroke victory in 1:04.53. She edged CMS junior duo Bryn Edwards (1:04.84) and Claire Bacon-Brenes (1:05.04) The Conference had seven women faster than 1:06.

In a strong breaststroke conference, Cummings did not have quite enough in the morning to make the A final of the 200 breast, but ended up winning the B final in 2:21.95. Her first year teammate Alexandra Werner won the event in 2:18.62 ahead of CMS’s Augusta Lewis (2:19.57) and Bacon-Brenes in 2:20.83.

Lewis won the 200 IM in a SCIAC record time of 2:02.84. Jin (2:07.78) and Cummings (2:08.10) were second and third. Lewis obliterated the 400 IM SCIAC record, knocking nearly four seconds off the 2004 mark of 4:27.18, touching in 4:23.43.

CMS freshman Ava Sealander edged Pomona-Pitzer senior Madison Kauahi for the 100 fly title, as the duo touched in 55.54 and 55.74, respectively. Sealander’s time snuck under the meet record mark of 55.68.

CMS added wins in the 50, 500, and 1650 free. Junior Jocelyn Crawford was first to the wall in the 50 in 23.44, ahead of the Sagehens’ Hannah Zurmuhl (23.64) and Kauahi (23.72). Kauahi won the 100 free with a 51.35 while CMS took second with a 51.88 from Riley Hoffman. Zurmuhl and CMS’ Natalia Orbach-Mandel tied for third in 51.97, in an entirely CMS and PP top heat.

In the 500 sophomore Mia Syme broke five minutes in 4:59.35. In the 1650 she touched first in 17:03.21.

Occidental freshman Cindy Dong won the 200 butterfly in 2:02.13, taking down the SCIAC record of 2:03.20 set in 2012. CalTech senior Brittany Percin touched second (2:03.69) and Redlands senior Wendy McAleer finished third with a 2:06.27. It was the only women’s podium all weekend missing either Pomona-Pitzer or CMS.

Percin was also first to the wall in the 200 freestyle with a 1:51.99, ahead of Hoffman (1:52.57) and Orbach-Mandel (1:52.73).

Men

While Pomona-Pitzer and CMS were solidly atop the team scores, the men’s meet had more parity than the women’s when it came to top finishers in individual events.

Pomona-Pitzer sophomore Lukas Menkhoff won the 100 breaststroke in 54.13, over a second ahead of CalTech’s Tom Gallup (55.39). Gallup won the 200 breaststorke in 2:01.39, just faster than CMS’ Henry Limm (2:01.63).

Will Abele added to the win column for the Hens, breaking 1:40 with a 1:39.18. He was also first to the wall in the 500 freestyle with a 4:27.60, just faster than teammate Paddy Baylis in 4:28.02. Baylis won a remarkably close 1650 free, touching the wall in 15:34.45, just .02 ahead of defending champion Benjamin Brewer, a junior from Cal Lutheran, in 15:34.47.

Abele’s classmate Jason Lu clocked a 3:56.53 400 IM while his teammate Liam O’Shea was second to the wall in 3:57.15 and Brewer (3:59.10) and Limm (3:59.36) also broke four minutes. Lu was later second in the 200 IM (1:50.73) while Cal Lutheran’s Andreas Nybo won the event in 1:49.43. Nybo was also first to the wall in the 200 fly (1:47.85) ahead of Abele in 1:49.34.

Pomona-Pitzer finished one-three in the 100 backstroke with Nikhil Kundu (50.54) and Ryan Drover (50.92) while CMS’ Dave Makhervaks (50.79) was sandwiched between.

CMS’ Marco Conati won the 50 free with a 20.69 while Menkhoff was second (20.77), just .01 ahead of Redlands’ Aaron Bauer with a 20.78. Bauer was first to the wall in the 100 freestyle in 45.47 while his teammate Sam Ayers (45.48) and Menkhoff (45.50) were just hundredths behind. Conati picked up a second win in the 100 fly with his 48.39.

Nick Jasinski, a freshman from CalTech, used a strong second 100 to win the 200 backstroke in 1:48.17, ahead of Pomona-Pitzer’s Lu in 1:48.56.

Full results here.

Team Scores

Women

1. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 1114.5

2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 1071.5

3. Occidental College 507

4. University of Redlands 479.5

5. Chapman University 413.5

6. California Institute of Techno 402

7. California Lutheran University 267

8. Whittier College Swim and Dive 237

9. University of La Verne 228

Men

1. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 1125.5

2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 984.5

3. University of Redlands 588

4. California Lutheran University 478.5

5. Occidental College 465

6. California Institute of Techno 436

7. Chapman University 287.5

8. University of La Verne 198

9. Whittier College Swim and Dive 97

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