The 2022 Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships are being held at Grinnell College this weekend and the Lake Forest College women's team is in the lead while the men rank third after day one of the three-day meet.
Friday's finals session began with the 200-freestyle relay. The Forester men placed third in 1:27.08 while the women claimed the title and posted the second-fastest time in program history at 1:36.78. Senior Sarah Burchart led off and was followed by classmate Kylie Morgan, sophomore Violet Anderson, and senior Kerry Mullen, whose split of 23.67 seconds was the fastest of anyone in the race.
The final three rounds of Friday's diving competition were next and Lake Forest sophomore Harriet Townsend (330.80 points) and senior McKinley Scheppler (322.05) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the women's 3-meter event.
The Foresters had the runner-up in both the men's and women's 500-freestyle. Senior Max Rowland, a two-time champion in the event, broke his own program record by more than three seconds with a time of 4:35.23 while sophomore Ally McCarthy completed her 20 lengths of the pool in 5:08.03. Senior Alec Pittman's time of 4:40.73 was good for fourth place in the men's race and the next three swimmers to finish after McCarthy were Lake Forest junior Helena Blumenau in 5:10.87, freshman Capri Kalvelage in 5:13.84, and sophomore Ella Burns in 5:18.89.
Freshman Tucker Potts put his name among the best in program history in the 200-IM, placing third in the race and now ranking fifth in team annals with a time of 1:54.74. Junior Sebastian Wagoner was seventh in 1:58.91. The first individual champion for the Foresters was Anderson, who successfully defended her 200-IM title from 2020 with a time of 2:09.62. Freshman Sylvie Paddon-Jones placed fourth in 2:13.59 and Morgan fifth with a time of 2:14.38.
The 50-freestyle was the Friday's final individual event and Burchart staked her claim as the league's fastest female by winning the race in 24.32 seconds. She now ranks third in school history in the event. Mullen, who was the defending champ, tied for third place with a time of 24.57 seconds.
The Forester men finished third in the 400-medley relay and the night ended with Blumenau, McCarthy, Anderson, and Morgan placing second in the women's race in 3:56.84, which ranks second in team history.
The Lake Forest women earned 278.5 points on day one of the competition, edging out Grinnell by just 32. The men's total of 171 is good for third place behind Grinnell (250) and St. Norbert College (179).
Saturday morning's prelims will begin at 10:00 and the finals are set to start at 5:30 p.m.
