The Lake Forest College swim team placed third on the women's side and fourth in the men's standings at the Carthage Classic over the weekend. Junior Alex Marks won the 200-breaststroke and five Foresters put their names on the program's all-time list of the top five performers in each event.
The assault on the school record book began with the first individual event of the meet, the 200-individual medley, where junior Becky Shaak placed second in 2:11.45. She entered the season ranked third in team history in the event but swam nearly two seconds faster on Friday and moved up to second. Shaak was also the runner-up in the 400-IM (4:42.75) and fourth in the 1650-freestyle (17:56.86) but did not improve on her school record times in either event.
Sophomore Loren Dutca added her name to a pair of top-five lists. Her time of 1:01.20 in the 100-backstroke was good for third in the meet and ranks her fifth in team history. She also finished one place behind Shaak in the 1650-freestyle with a time of 17:59.10, which makes her the fourth-fastest miler in program history. In addition, Dutca placed second in the 500-freestyle in 5:12.99, less than four-tenths of a second from earning a spot in the top five in that event as well.
Dutca was not the only Forester with an historic performance in the backstroke. Freshman Kelsie Miller finished third in the 200-backstroke and her time of 2:11.62 placed her fifth in team history in that event. Miller was also seventh in the 200-IM (2:18.74) and 12th in the 100-butterfly (1:02.98).
On the men's side, freshman Kevin Barbrick narrowly missed becoming the fifth swimmer in program history to complete the 100-breaststroke in less than a minute but his time of 1:00.12 was still faster than the duo previoulsy tied for fifth in the school record books. Barbrick placed third in the event, eighth in the 50-freestyle (22.13), and 13th in the 200-IM (2:03.08).
In addition to winning the 200-breaststroke in 2:11.03, Marks was sixth in the 100-breaststroke (1:00.35).
Several other Foresters finished among the top five in at least one event over the weekend. Sophomores Zachary Wenner and Garr Punnett were fourth and fifth in the 200-IM with times of 2:01.51 and 2:01.59, respectively. Punnett was also third in the 200-butterfly (2:00.37) and fifth in the 100-butterfly (53.96). Wenner placed third in the 200-freestyle (1:45.51). Sophomore David Albion finished fourth in the 200-butterfly in 2:01.94. Other fifth-place finishes were turned in by senior Amy Finn in the 500-freestyle (5:23.07), freshman Jessica Hanch in the 100-breaststroke (1:14.20) and 200-breaststroke (2:42.32), junior Kelsey Hoeper in the 100-freestyle (55.70), and sophomore Sarah Stoklosa in the 400-IM (4:56.73).
Carthage won both the women's and men's competition. Lewis University placed second on the women's side and third on the men's. Olivet College was the runner-up in the men's team standings.
The Foresters' next meet is the Illinois-Michigan Quadrangular at Wheaton College on January 14. Lake Forest's divers will also compete at the Chicago Invitational that weekend.
