RESULTS
GAMBIER, Ohio – Saturday marked a day of near perfection for the Kenyon College women's swimming and diving program. The Ladies hosted Ohio Northern University at the Steen Aquatic Center and displayed its dominance by delivering the Polar Bears a 201.5-37.5 loss. Kenyon swept up first-place honors in every event en route to its first dual win of the season.
The first event of the day set the tone for the rest of the meet. In the 200-yard medley relay, Kenyon put five teams in the water and took the top four spots. The foursome of Rachel Flinn, Laura Duncan, Jourdan Cline, and Jenner McLeod took first place behind a time of 1:47.31. McLeod ran the fastest leg of the group, touching in at 24.14.
Katie Kaestner had another strong day in the water, taking first place in both the 100-yard freestyle (53.41) and 200-yard freestyle (1:56.39) events. She also served as the opening leg of the race-winning 200-yard freestyle relay team that included Cline, Megan Morris, and Hillary Yarosh.
Adding to the impact of Kenyon's underclassmen were sophomores Mariah Williamson, Natalie Parker, Maria Zarka, and Hannah Lobb. Williamson took first place in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.23). Parker won the 200-yard individual medley by edging out Flinn by .24 seconds and also placed second in the 500-yard freestyle (5:22.92). In the 50-yard freestyle, Lobb beat out Ohio Northern's Jillian Chapman by .37 seconds with a finish time of 24.83. She also posted a third-place finish in the 200-yard breast stroke.
Though Ohio Northern did not bring any divers to compete, Zarka reasserted her role as the Ladies' top diver by taking first in both the one- and the three-meter dives. She turned in a 250.95 score in the one-meter diving while eclipsing that in the three-meter diving with a 278.80.
Ellie Crawford was the lone freshman with a win on Saturday, taking first place in the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:28.25.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Syd Lindblom ran away with the gold by besting her teammate Jacque Garcia by 19 seconds. Lindblom, a senior, completed the event in 10:35.98. Kenyon also took the top three spots in the event with Garcia and Amelia Loydpierson (11:17.29) finishing thereafter. Dru Selden also represented the senior class well with her win in the 500-yard freestyle (5:17.42). Junior Celia Oberholzer won the 200 backstroke by out-touching Alyssa LaFrenierre by a slim margin.
Following their impressive performance against ONU, the Ladies will recover for a couple days before heading out to Evanston, Ill. to participate in the TYR Invitational, hosted by Northwestern University. The multi-day meet will begin on Nov. 22 and last through Nov. 24.
