Lords shave times in preparation for nationals

RESULTS

GAMBIER, Ohio -- With a focus on improving times for NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championship qualification, members of the Kenyon College Lords participated Saturday in the annual Fast Chance Invitational, bringing an end to the regular-season schedule at Steen Aquatics Center.

Following the predetermined order of events, Andrew Grier, a junior, made some moves in butterfly time trials. In the 200-yard butterfly he lowered his season-best from 1:52.16 to an NCAA 'B' qualifying time of 1:50.29. In the 100, he already owned a 'B' time of 49.09, but Saturday shaved that down to a 49.03.

Ben Shropshire, also a Kenyon junior, had success in butterfly competition, as well. He started the day with a season-best 49.16. He lowered that to a 48.67 during the scheduled events and, later in the day, whittled it down to a 48.64 during a time trial. All three of those times cleared the NCAA 'B' standard. Senior Takashi Kanazawa also improved his 100-yard butterfly time Saturday, but his mark of 49.53 came up short of the 'B' cut.

Like Kanazawa, the same held true Mart Niehoff, Vaughn Hajra and Andrew Stolarski. Those three lowered their season-best times, but couldn't get them into qualification range. Niehoff went 50.13 in the 100-yard backstroke, Hajra turned in a 2:05.75 in the 200-yard breaststroke and Stolarski finished the 500-yard freestyle in 4:41.08.

On the other hand, the Lords did have three more swimmers clip their season-bests and, at the same time, register a 'B' cut. Those three included Colin Bowling, Nick Hong and Ben Czech. Bowling lowered his time in the 1,650-yard freestyle from 15:42.87 to 15:39.04. Hong replaced a 56.16 with a 56.00 in the 100-yard breaststroke and Czech's time of 1:49.16 replaced his previous best of 1:49.87 in the 200-yard backstroke.

Kenyon divers have the regional championship up next on their schedule. After that takes place next weekend, the entire Kenyon team turns its focus on the NCAA Division III Championship, which starts March 16 in Indianapolis.

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Players Mentioned

Colin Bowling: Junior

Vaughn Hajra: Sophomore

Nick Hong: Junior

Takashi Kanazawa: Senior

Mart Niehoff: Junior

Ben Czech: Junior

Andrew Grier: Junior

Ben Shropshire: Junior

Andrew Stolarski: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Colin Bowling
: Junior

Vaughn Hajra
: Sophomore

Nick Hong
: Junior

Takashi Kanazawa
: Senior

Mart Niehoff
: Junior

Ben Czech
: Junior

Andrew Grier
: Junior

Ben Shropshire
: Junior

Andrew Stolarski
: Sophomore