GAMBIER, Ohio – It was another sensational sophomore’s turn to update the Davidson record books Friday, as Katy Williams broke her own 100-yard breaststroke record twice in a winning effort to lead the Davidson swimming teams on the second day of competition at the Total Performance Invitational, hosted by Kenyon College.
Williams won the event by besting her swim of 1 minute, 3.29 seconds from a year ago in the same meet with a 1:03.12 in the morning preliminaries and an even faster 1:02.97 in the evening finals.
Williams’ classmate, Elise Lankiewicz, surpassed the 200 freestlye meet record (1:48.43) and nearly surpassed the pool record (1:48.33), touching in 1:48.35, but she was thwarted from the top of the podium by Johns Hopkins’ Ana Bogdanovski (1:47.31), the reigning NCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year. Angie Healy was the second ‘Cat in the top five, placing fifth in 1:51.37.
On the men’s side, Luke Burton led the Wildcats with a first-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall just 0.02 seconds shy of the meet record (48.64 seconds) in 48.66. Burton also competed in the consolation final for the 50 freestyle (18th, 21.37) and contributed to a pair of eighth-place efforts for Davidson’s ‘A’ relay teams in the 200 freestyle (1:24.16) and 400 medley (3:22.73).
In total, 26 personal bests were set by Wildcat swimmers.
The women’s top relay efforts both resulted in fourth-place finishes, as Lankiewicz, Meredith Nakano, Healy and Erica Clancy finished in 1:34.96 in the 200 free, and, joined by Williams in the 400 medley, Lankiewicz, Nakano, and Healy teamed up to finish in 3:48.37.
Nakano reached two championship finals and placed eighth in both, touching in 1:04.93 in the 200 free, slightly off her 1:04.56 prelim time, and 23.97 seconds in the 50 free, slightly off her 23.78 prelim time.
Lankiewicz (7th, 57.90) and Healy (9th, 58.07) also both reached the championship finals in the 100 backstroke. Additionally, Anna Blair Bullock placed seventh in the 200 butterfly in 2:06.48.
Other notable performances on the men’s side included freshman Riley League reaching the championship finals in the 200 butterfly in 1:51.72, and ultimately placing 10th in 1:52.38. Spencer Gill (14th, 57.40 seconds), Brandon Kegley (14th, 51.87) and Cole Riggan (15th, 4:05.84) all reached the consolation finals in the 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 400 individual medley, respectively.
With a total of seven teams competing on the men’s and women’s side, the women rank fourth with 555 points, while the men are sixth with 337 points. The meet will conclude Sunday with sessions beginning at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Lankiewicz broke two of her own school records Thursday to win the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Lankiewicz touched first in 16 minutes, 42.26 seconds, surpassing the mile standard she set in the same meet last year of 16:53.77, and the 1,000-yard free record (10:13.62) she set last year as well, posting a split of 10:09.12. She also competed in the only other women’s race of the night, the women’s 800 freestyle relay, combining with Nakano, Sarah Coats and Healy to finish third in 7:25.21.
Max Schimanski (16:14.44) and Clay Resweber (16:20.53) placed 19th and 20th, respectively, for the Wildcats in the 1,650 free, while Burton, Riggan, Smith and Kegley placed seventh in the 800 free relay in 6:44.63.
Above is a press release submitted by the Davidson Wildcats. A full recap of the Total Performance Invitational will come at the end of the weekend.