Swimming

Category: Swimming

Gabriel, Cardinal, Flack take home silvers on day two of MWC Championships

GRINNELL, Iowa — Three Lawrence University swimmers grabbed second-place finishes to pace the Vikings on Saturday at the Midwest Conference Championships at Grinnell College.

Hannah Gabriel took second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:57.80, and teammate Taylor Winter grabbed third in 1:57.94. Hayley Cardinal was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.11, and Emily Flack grabbed second in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.23.

Lawrence also took home a pair of third-place finishes in the relays. The 200 medley relay team of Flack, Cardinal, Winter and Gabriel took third in 1:53.20, and the 800 freestyle relay team of Flack, Winter, Gabriel and Chelsea Hameister was third in 7:57.04.

The Lawrence women are fourth in the team standings with 292 points.

On the men’s side, the Vikings are in fifth place with 196 points. The top finisher for the Vikings was Charlie Mann, who took third in the 100 backstroke in 55.13 seconds.

Results

Winter, Mann pace Vikings on opening day of MWC Championships

GRINNELL, Iowa — Sophomore Taylor Winter was the top finisher for the Lawrence University swim team on Friday’s opening day of the Midwest Conference Championships at Grinnell College.

Winter swam to second place in the 500-yard freestyle as Lawrence swimmers took three of the top five places in the event. Winter was second in 5:08.39, Emily Flack placed fourth and Hannah Gabriel was fifth.

The women’s 400 medley relay team of Winter, Flack, Gabriel and Hayley Cardinal grabbed third place in 4:06.51.

Led by those performances, Lawrence is in fourth place in the team standings with 125 points.

On the men’s side, the Vikings are in fifth place with 85 points.

Junior Charlie Mann was the top individual finisher for the Vikings as he grabbed fourth place in the 50 freestyle in 21.79 seconds.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Mann, Nick Craker, Evan Flack and Grant Wilke took home fourth place in 1:28.54.

The competition continues through Sunday.

Results

Inside LU Athletics: No pain, no gain for Lawrence swimmers

 It all comes down to this.

After months of training, finding the limits of your endurance and punishing your body and mind, you finally get to go fast … really fast.

Lawrence University’s swimmers and divers look to reap the benefits of more than five months of hard labor at the weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships. The three-day meet begins Friday at Grinnell College.

“I expect some really strong performances, season bests, lifetime bests from top to bottom,” said Lawrence coach Drew Fleek, who saw both of his teams finish fourth at the championships a season ago.

The fast times that Fleek envisions are the direct result of the training regimen the Vikings follow.

“The main thing for these kids to be successful at the conference championships is months and months of progressive training,” Fleek said.

The Vikings start with building aerobic capacity and then seek to train their physiological system with repeats and threshold sets.

“We are trying to maximize their physical output and how much pain they can tolerate to get through the end of the race,” Fleek said. “My goal is to push them to the absolute limit so they can manage that pain mentally and physically.”

The brutal workouts resume when the Vikings return from winter break and continue through the dog days of January.

“It’s all an effort to get to this last part of the season. The first three or four weeks of the term we continue this difficult training,” Fleek said. “The overall goal is to break them down each afternoon workout so that they have just enough time to recover for the next day’s workout.”

Once the Vikings start closing in on the conference championships, they begin the taper in their training. The workouts get easier, and Fleek said the result is “it tricks the body.” That body has become accustomed to the punishing workouts and is still working with that in mind.

“When we get to the meet this weekend, the swimmers have the excess of energy. That’s why you’re able to see dramatic time drops at this time of the season,” Fleek said.

“The other thing is the championship atmosphere. All the pain and suffering and effort and all the morning practices … for this one three-day period where they just let it all out. That contributes a lot to the fast swims as well.”

Lawrence enters the league meet with a pair of returning champions on the women’s side. Junior Hannah Gabriel won the 200-yard freestyle in 2012, and sophomore Taylor Winter looks to defend her title in the 500 freestyle. Winter also has the top time in the league in the 1,650 freestyle.

Freshmen Emily Flack and Hayley Cardinal are also among the top swimmers in the league in multiple events. Flack is one the top backstrokers in the conference, and Cardinal is among the best in the breaststroke. The Vikings also bring top sprinter Julia Heller and Chelsea Hameister, one of the league’s best in the individual medley.

“All of those guys are doing to have some standout performances,” Fleek said. “Hayley, Emily Hannah and Taylor will all be competing for conference championships in their individual events as well.”

Depth is the big concern on the men’s side, but the Vikings have some individual standouts in Charlie Mann, Evan Flack, Jake Johnson, Nick Craker, Caleb Stellmach, Charlie Malchow, Tom Vogel, Patrick Vincent and Grant Wilkie.

“All the guys have a chance to score in at least one event,” Fleek said. “I think our freestyle relays are going to be very strong on the guys’ side.”

They’re baaaaack!

Lawrence wraps up its basketball season on Saturday when Grinnell College makes the visit to Alexander Gymnasium.

Apart from the entertainment value of Grinnell’s run-and-gun style, which has been toned down a bit (gone are the days of virtually uncontested layups against Grinnell’s defense), the game means a lot to the Pioneers.

A win against Lawrence would ensure that Grinnell would host the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament. Grinnell is currently tied with St. Norbert College for first place, and the Pioneers hold the tiebreaker.

Tip-off is set for 3 p.m., and admission to the game is free.

Playing for the playoffs

Lawrence hasn’t yet clinched a berth in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs heading into the final series of the regular season.

Lawrence faces Lake Forest College in a home-and-home series this weekend, with Friday’s game at the Appleton Family Ice Center. The Foresters are one of the league’s hottest teams (7-3-2 in their last 12 games), and the Vikings are on a season-worst five-game losing streak.

The top three teams from each of the MCHA’s two divisions make the playoffs, and the Vikings are tied with Northland College for third place in the Northern Division. Lawrence trails second-place Finlandia University by two points, but the Vikings hold the tiebreakers with both Northland and Finlandia.

While the Vikings have a tough test against Lake Forest, Finlandia has to travel to third-ranked Adrian College and Northland goes to No. 13 MSOE.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

Lawrence men, women take second at Private College Championships

KENOSHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s and women’s swim team both placed second on Saturday at the Wisconsin Private College Championships at Carthage College.

Freshman Emily Flack led the way for Lawrence by taking home a pair of individual titles. Flack won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03.36 and swam to victory in the 200 backstroke in 2:16.80.

Sophomore Taylor Winter and freshman Hayley Cardinal also won titles for the women. Winter captured the 1,650 freestyle in 18:22.87, and Cardinal grabbed the title in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.71.

On the men’s side, Evan Flack and Charlie Mann both won titles. Flack took first in the 200 freestyle in 1:48.76, and Mann swam to victory in the 100 backstroke in 57.97 seconds.

Carthage won both team titles. The Carthage women were first with 289, and Lawrence was second at 152. The Carthage men won the title with 288, and Lawrence was second at 116.

Results

Cardinal takes first for Vikings at Lake Forest Double Dual

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Lawrence University standout Hayley Cardinal picked up an event victory for the Vikings on Saturday at the Lake Forest Double Dual.

Cardinal swam to victory in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:18.81.

Lake Forest defeated both Lawrence and Carroll in the team scores. The Foresters topped Lawrence 78-34 on the women’s side and 76-27 in the men’s meet. Lawrence and Carroll tied 52-52 in the women’s meet, and the Carroll men topped Lawrence 61-49.

Results

Flack leads Lawrence swimmers in battle with Titans

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Emily Flack won a pair of events on Friday night as the Lawrence University swim teams took on UW-Oshkosh in a dual meet at Albee Hall.

Oshkosh won the women’s competition 121-84, and the Titans also came out on top in the men’s meet by a score of 122-77.

Flack swam to victory in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:04.19 and took first  in the 200 freestyle in 2:01.50. Also winning for the Vikings were Hayley Cardinal in the 100 breaststroke, Taylor Winter in the 500 freestyle and the 200 medley relay team.

On the men’s side, Evan Flack won the 200 freestyle in 1:51.16, Grant Wilkie was first in the 100 freestyle in 52.31 seconds, Charlie Mann won the 100 backstroke in 59.41 seconds and Caleb Stellmach won the 500 freestyle in 5:22.22.

Women’s results

Men’s results

Gabriel swims to Midwest Conference honor

Lawrence University swimming standout Hannah Gabriel has been named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

Gabriel (Elmhurst, Ill./York) won the honor after winning three events at the Lawrence Triangular this past Saturday.

Gabriel won the 100-yard freestyle in 57.66 seconds, grabbed first in the 200 freestyle in 2:20.28 and was first in the 500 freestyle in 5:23.90. She also swam on the winning 400 freestyle relay team that won in 3:56.84.

Lawrence won all 13 of the women’s events contested at the meet.

This is the second time Gabriel has won the conference’s weekly award during her career. She also took the honor back on Nov. 10, 2010.

Lawrence doesn’t return to action until Dec. 7 when it travels to UW-Oshkosh.

Vikings dominate in Lawrence Triangular

The Lawrence University swim teams won 23 of 27 events on Saturday at the Lawrence Triangular at Boldt Natatorium.

Swimming against Ripon College and the Marquette University Swim Club, Lawrence had three swimmers win three individual events apiece.

On the women’s side, Hannah Gabriel won the 100-yard freestyle, 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Leading the men was Evan Flack, who was first in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, and Cameron Gmehlin, who swam to victory in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.

Winning two events apiece for the Vikings were Taylor Winter, Emily Flack and Hayley Cardinal.

Results

Gabriel, Flack lead Vikings in battle with Whitewater

Evan Flack and Hannah Gabriel both won a pair of events Saturday to lead the Lawrence University swim teams in their dual meet with UW-Whitewater.

The Warhawks won the women’s meet 132-61, and Whitewater took the men’s meet 118-76.

Flack swam to victory in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:54.82 and won the 100 freestyle in 50.33 seconds.

Gabriel took the top spot in the 200 freestyle in 2:02.91 and swam to victory in the 500 freestyle in 5:29.43. Gabriel also teamed with Taylor Winter, Emily Flack and Chelsea Hameister to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:46.76.

Results