Owls coast to another Total Performance title

GAMBIER, Ohio -- For the fifth straight time, the Kenyon College women's swimming and diving team claimed the Total Performance Invitational title. The latest installment of the annual three-day meet held at Steen Aquatics Center wrapped up Saturday night with the Owls tallying 2,850.5 first-place points.

Eight teams competed for the title and West Chester University, which scored 1442.5 team points, finished a distant second to Kenyon. Hope College was third with 1,310.5 points, while Case Western Reserve University and Carnegie Mellon University rounded out the top five with respective totals of 1,138.5 and 1,082.

The Owls sealed the deal right from the start of the Saturday-night session, as they placed four swimmers among the top-five finishers in the 1,650-yard freestyle. First-year Bengisu Caymaz got things rolling, turning in a winning time of 16:39.30, which was more than 10 seconds quicker than the second-place finisher, teammate and sophomore Molly Haag, who finished in 16:51.92. Senior Sarah Hoffman claimed fourth place in 17:18.26 and first-year Sofia Giordano took fifth with a time of 17:20.87. All four of those times cleared NCAA 'B' cuts.

Senior Caleigh Wukitch kept the Kenyon wins coming, as she posted the top time in the 200-yard backstroke. She was the only swimmer in the field that came in under the two-minute mark and her time of 1:59.39 was a personal best that easily met the NCAA 'B' cut. In the same event, sophomore Ceyda Yazici took fourth place in 2:03.32 and Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault claimed fifth in 2:03.65.

In the 100-yard freestyle, West Chester's Mikayla Niness stopped the Owls win streak. The only Kenyon swimmer finishing in the top five of the sprint was junior Jennah Fadely, who touched in 51.50 for third place.

The Owls bounced right back in the next event when junior Gabrielle Wei led Kenyon to the finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. She put up a winning time of 2:14.27, which was another NCAA 'B' cut and four seconds better than her previous season best. Not too far behind her, senior Sydney McCallie finished fourth in 2:20.55 and classmate Sydney Buchman took fifth in 2:20.78. Those, too, cleared the NCAA 'B' cut.

In the last individual race of the day, Caymaz chalked up one more win, claiming first place in the 200-yard butterfly. She beat teammate and senior Sophie Schmitz by one second. Caymaz clocked in at 2:03.27 and Schmitz took the runner-up spot in 2:04.28. They both cleared 'B' cuts, while junior Jordan Herrera tacked on another Owls' top-five finish, taking fifth with a time of 2:05.91.

Earlier in the day, the one-meter diving competition was held. Kenyon's top finisher was senior Katarina Ilic, who collected a score of 457.50 and placed third. First-year Olive O'Dorisio took fifth with a final score of 445.50.

At the end of the meet, Torrecillas-Jouault, Fadely, Gwen Eisenbeis and Sydney Geboy teamed up to post one final Kenyon victory. Those four clocked in at 3:25.19 to win the 400-yard freestyle relay by a tenth of a second over West Chester's top team.

The Invitational's results marked the end of competition for the Owls in the current calendar year. They won't be back in the water until January 12, when they host Oberlin College and Cleveland State University.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Sydney Buchman: Junior

Jennah Fadely: Sophomore

Sydney Geboy: Sophomore

Jordan Herrera: Sophomore

Sarah Hoffman: Junior

Katarina Ilic: Junior

Sydney McCallie: Junior

Sophie Schmitz: Junior

Gabrielle Wei: Sophomore

Caleigh Wukitch: Junior

Players Mentioned

Sydney Buchman
: Junior

Jennah Fadely
: Sophomore

Sydney Geboy
: Sophomore

Jordan Herrera
: Sophomore

Sarah Hoffman
: Junior

Katarina Ilic
: Junior

Sydney McCallie
: Junior

Sophie Schmitz
: Junior

Gabrielle Wei
: Sophomore

Caleigh Wukitch
: Junior