Pike and Bartels claim 2019 CSCAA Open Water National Titles

Pike and Bartels claim 2019 CSCAA Open Water National Titles

• September 14, 2019, Lone Star Lake, Kansas
• 5000 km race
• Results: CSCAA Open Water Championships

The University of Kansas hosted the fourth annual College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Collegiate Open Water Championships. The 5km races, for both men and women took place at Lone Star Lake in Lawrence, Kansas.

Last year, the University of Missouri dominated the competition, finishing with the top two spots in the women’s race and the top three spots on the men’s side.

Women’s 2019 Top 8 Finishers

1.     Taylor Pike, Texas A&M (1:03:48.0)
2.     Joy Field, Texas A&M (1:03:55.3)
3.     Linda Ungerbock, Carson Newman (1:03:55.3)
4.     Darina Khisamova, Fresno State (1:03:58.2)
5.     Neta Shiff, Grand Valley State (1:04:01.1)
6.     Sarah Nowaski, Rice (1:05:31.4)
7.     Jenny Nusbaum, Kansas (1:05:45.0)
8.     Audrey Coffey, Nebraska (1:05:46.9)

This year’s top finisher, Taylor Pike was just 42 seconds shy of Audrey Guyett’s winning time last year (1:03:06.31). The course was different from last year to this year, however, with 3 laps instead of 2, and course conditions were windier and choppier than last season. Pike was joined on the podium by her teammate Joy Field and Carson Newman’s Linda Ungerbock.

Missouri was noticeably absent from the race this year, after finishing 1-2-4-7 in the 2018 women’s race. This year, Rice took the women’s title with a 6th, 12th and 14th place finish from Sarah Nowaski, Shannon Jelley and Shannon Campbell, respectively.

Men’s 2019 Top 8 Finishers

1.     Moritz Bartels, Grand Valley State (58:45.6)
2.     Nick Skinner, TCU (1:00:05.7)
3.     CJ Arena, Johns Hopkins (1:00:10.7)
4.     Jesse Goodyear, Grand Valley State (1:00:43.7)
5.     Elder Oliveira, Emmanuel College (1:00:50.5)
6.     Casey Charles, Carson Newman (1:01:20.8)
7.     Stanislaw Chalat, Indianapolis (1:02:05.9)
8.     Christian Hedeen, Indianapolis (1:02:31.3)

Similar to the women’s side, the men’s top 8 looked very different from last year. It featured no repeat finishers in the top spots and no swimmers from Missouri, the reigning champs.

First place finisher Moritz Bartels of Grand Valley State, Division II school in Allendale, Michigan, improved upon last year’s top performance from Giovanni Gutierrez (59:17.48). Nick Skinner from TCU and CJ Arena rounded out the top three, finishing in 1:00:05.7 and 1:00:10.7, respectively.

This year’s top 8 was noticeably slower than 2018. Bartels’ 58:45.6 was the only time in the field under and hour, compared to last year’s top 8 men who were all sub-60 minutes.

Bartels’ victory helped Grand Valley State to claim the men’s team title with his first-place finish, along with Jesse Goodyear’s fourth place and Keegan Hawkins’ 17th place.