Natalie Grothe Double Leads Dominant IRSC Through 2 Days at NJCAA Nats

2017 NJCAA Junior National Championships

• March 1-4, 2017
• Buffalo, New York
• Live results

The 2017 National Junior College Athletics Association Championships are under way in Buffalo, New York at the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center. The overarching story-line through 2 days of competition is the same as its been for decades – Indian River State College in Florida is well on their way to a 43rd-straight men’s and 35th-straight women’s titles, with the men’s run being the longest unbroken current national championship streak in collegiate athletics.

But there’s a new wrinkle to this year’s meet, in the form of a rare star to emerge from one of the meet’s other 12 participating schools – Hylt Collinson from Iowa Lakes community College.

Scores through 2 days

Men:

1. IRSC – 669
2. Iowa Central CC – 245
3. Southwestern Oregon CC – 245
4. South Georgia SC – 203
5. Lincoln College – 183
6. Iowa Lakes CC – 177
7. Monroe CC – 146
8. Genesee CC – 126
9. Erie CC – 71
10. Herkimer County CC – 52
11. Jamestown CC – 47
12. Queensborough – 43

Women:

1. IRSC – 574
2. South Georgia SC – 287
3. Iowa Central CC – 241.5
4. Southwestern Oregon CC – 236
5. Lincoln College – 193.5
6. Monroe CC – 184
7. Iowa Lakes CC – 103
8. Genesee CC – 94
9. Erie CC – 85
10. Fashion Institute of Technology – 84
11. Jamestown CC – 50
12. Herkimer County CC – 35
13. Queensborough – 3

Through two days of competition, the freshman Collinson, who hails from South Africa, has picked up two individual wins. His first came in the 200 IM on day 1, where a 1:49.64 beat out Indian River’s Cameron Newton (1:50.00) for the title. On day 2, he won the 400 IM in 3:54.56 – which was a more comfortable 6-second margin of victory. Hewon’t swim the 100 IM on Friday to take the triple, but instead will shift his focus to the 100 breaststroke, where he’s the 4th seed behind a trio of sub-56s from Indian River.

Collinson is part of a big wave of South Africans who have come to the NJCAA in recent years. Financial woes in their home federation, combined with the lure of Brad Tandy’s future success after transferring to become an NCAA All-American at Arizona, have proved a strong push-and-pull for their swimmers.

The meet as a whole has been down from prior years, with only one swimming NJCAA records having been broken at the meet’s halfway point. That came in prelims when Indian River’s Nicholas Loomis swam a 46.53 in the 100 fly. He added a second in finals, but his 47.64 was still enough to handily win. In addition, there has been a new diving mark set – IRSC’s Robby Costine won the men’s 3-meter with a score of 623.65, which broke Michael Wright’s school and NJCAA record of 614.50 from 2008.

The women’s IM events to date also pulled down a double winner – Natalie Grothe from Indian River. Grothe is a rare swimmer who was on an NCAA team (Colorado State) and then transferred into the NJCAA – most swimmers who continue collegiate competition beyond their 2 years in the NJCAA will transfer to NCAA programs.

In Wednesday’s 200 IM, she placed 1st in 2:05.95, part of a 1-2-3 finish from IRSC, and in the 400 IM she won again in 4:32.90. Those are both lifetime bests for her.

Those wins are part of a meet-long title sweep for IRSC thus far, including a similar double from Osianna McReed, who won the 50 free (23.13) and 100 fly (55.20).

Other Winners in first 2 days (all won by IRSC):

• IRSC’s Courtney Perrett won the 50 breaststroke in 29.28. Her teammate Lauren Meyrick was just two-tenths back in 29.47. Perrett joined the double club by inning the 200 free on Thursday in 1:52.96.
• Andrew Wojcik won the men’s 50 breaststroke in 25.33, leading a 1-2-3 sweep by the Pioneers.
• Ianthe van der Westhuizen, another South African, won the women’s 1000 free in 10:22.78.
• IRSC’s Luka Tomic won the men’s 1000 free in 9:21.92 – beating his next closest competitor by almost 75 yards. He took the 200 free in 1:36.28, though there his win was only by about a body-length.
• Gavin Eardmann took the 50 free in 20.26, and combined with John Fauteux, Nicholas Loomis, Guillaume Bolivard, and Paul Tobin to take the top 5 spots in the race – all under 21 seconds.
• IRSC won the women’s 200 medley relay in 1:43.49 – a 10-second margin over runners-up Iowa Central. Indian River’s relay included a 24.74 fly split from McReed. She’s one of the meet’s best chances at a record when she swims the 50 fly individually on Saturday.
• The IRSC men were not quite as dominant, but still won the 200 medley by over 7 seconds, with a 1:28.62. Erdmann anchored them in 19.58.
• The IRSC women again won in the 200 free relay with a 1:33.12 – McReed again had the best split with a 22.51.
• The IRSC men won the 200 free relay in 1:20.91, using the depth displayed in the individual race to run away from the competition.
• theIRSC’s Adrianna Warning won the 1-meter diving with a score of 442.85. As dominant in diving as they are in swimming, the Pioneers took the top 3 spots in that event.
• Meagan Abad won the 50 backstroke in 26.11.
• South African Jason van der Touw won the men’s 50 back in 23.19.
• IRSC won the women’s 400 medley relay in 3:50.50 – an even bigger 13-second margin of victory. That swim was, however, almost a second slower than their season best.
• The IRSC were equally as dominant, winning by 13.01 seconds over Iowa Central, with a 3:14.26.