CHICAGO – The Trinity University swim and dive team started off with some exceptional swims in the D3 Shootout meet at the University of Chicago. At the end of day one, the women are in sixth out of 10 teams competing in this meet.
It is important to note that, for the individual events of this meet, one Trinity swimmer can only score in the top 10 of an event, and the other can only score in spots 11-20 based on the way this meet is structured.
"The women got off to a very solid start here on day one of the Shootout," said Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "Over half of this roster is first years, competing against some of the best talent in Division III and it was great to see them show up in a big way. Kaya's 200 free is without a doubt the standout performance of the evening. We have several more opportunities to compete tomorrow and I'm excited to see how we can finish out this meet."
The day started off strong with the 200 medley relay. The women finished this relay in seventh place, with
Ava Easley (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) leading off in a time just off her lifetime best. Following her were some speedy times by
Emme Penry (Greenwood Village, Colo. / Regis Jesuit),
Allison Ortiz (Houston, Texas / Stratford), and
Amy Benson (Newmarket, N.H. / Phillips Exeter Academy), for a final time of 1:46.11.
Neely Burns (Phoenix, Ariz. / Thunderbird) and
Kaitlyn Phan (Austin, Texas / Westlake) followed with their 400 IMs, coming in third and sixteenth. Burns snuck under both the NCAA B cut and invited time with a time of 4:26.30. Benson and
Kaya Alvegaard-Struble (Kansas City, Mo. / Pembroke Hill) competed in their 200 freestyles next, getting eighth and eleventh. Alvegaard-Struble went a lifetime best by nearly three seconds, with a time of 1:51.62, also putting her as the fourth fastest time in Trinity history. Ortiz and Easley each swam the 50 freestyle and got ninth and eighteenth respectively.
Next for the women came the 400 individual medley relay, where each participant swims a 100 IM. The Tigers came in third in the 400 individual medley relay, with
John Key,
Grant Bibza, Alvegaard-Struble, and Phan beating the team's time last year by over six seconds. After the relay came
Juliet Hood's (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) turn to dive, and she ended in fourth place. This was an exceptional performance from last week's SAA Diver of the Week.
After diving came the 200 butterfly, where
Sophia Mandanis (Wichita, Kan. / Andover) and Ortiz earned eighth and twentieth respectively. Easley and Phan then swam the 100 backstroke, getting fifth and fourteenth in the meet, but the fifth and ninth best times in Trinity history. Next, Burns and Penry then came in seventh and fourteenth place in the 100 breastroke, just before the final race of the evening.
The first day of the meet ended with the 800 freestyle relay. The women's relay consisted of Burns, Benson, Alvegaard-Struble, and Mandanis. Benson and Alvegaard-Struble put up similar times to earlier in the session, and all four charged forth with all the energy they had left at the end of this session to end the relay in a time of 7:46.82.
