2021 WV Club Mountaineer May LC Meet
- May 13-16
- Morgantown, West Virginia
- Long Course Meters (LCM)
- Results available on Meet Mobile under “CM May LC Meet”
Looking for opportunities to get long course swims in before the deadline for Trials cuts, several college swimmers competed at the 2021 May Long Course Meet hosted by the Club Mountaineers last weekend.
A few of those swimmers successfully achieved their first Trials cuts during the meet, such as Catherine Stanford, Jake Houck, and Conner Funke.
Stanford, hailing from Penn State, posted a time of 25.97 in the 50 free in a time trial event on the final day of the meet. That time earned Stanford her first Wave I Trials cut by just two-hundredths of a second.
The day before, she swam the 50 in both the prelims and finals sessions of Saturday’s lineup, but missed the Trials cuts in both swims. She came the closest to the time during the finals session, when she swam a 26.25. The 50 was the only event she swam at the meet.
In her freshman year at Penn State, Stanford proved herself as one of their top sprinters, making finals in both the 50 and 100 free at Big Tens. Out of high school, she was a 22-high/49 freestyler, making her a good grab for any program in need of more sprinters. Her 100 and 200 freestyle events both improved over the course of the season. She came close to hitting her lifetime best of 22.84 in the 50 free at Big Tens as well, placing 17th with a 22.95. Her new Trials cut is the first of her swimming career.
Jake Houck, also from Penn State, swam a 22.69 in his 50 free, dipping under the 23-second barrier in the 50 free for the first time and subsequently qualifying for Wave II Trials in the event. His time of 22.69 was more than a second faster than his entry time of 23.99.
Houck is coming off of an impressive freshman season, where he placed sixth at Big Tens in the 50 free with a time of 19.38. Houck’s best time out of high school was a 20.75, meaning he shaved off well over a second in the event after heading to Penn State. His 50 free LC time out of high school was a 23.99.
He also swam the 100 fly (54.48) and 100 free (51.08) and narrowly missed the Trials cuts in both events while still dropping over a second in each. Houck won both events.
Another Trials cut from the meet came from Conner Funke of Cincinnati, who bested his 200 breast time of 1.68 seconds to secure his cut. In the prelims session, Funke touched first in a 2:17.68, but later finished sixth at finals with a 2:39.13 (after already having earned his Trials cut). Funke also swam the 100 breast with his fastest swim of the meet being 1:03.82, which puts him about a half-second off the Trials cut. His 200 breast time of 2:17.68 was an improvement of almost two seconds from his previous best time of 2:19.36, which he swam at a Sectionals meet in 2019.
Funke began his collegiate swimming career with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he finished out his freshman year. While at UWGB, he swam lifetime personal bests of 55.46 in the 100 breast and 2:00.85 in the 200 breast.
During his Sophomore year, Funke transferred to Missouri State University where he continued to improve upon his breaststroke times. At the 2020 Mid-American Championships, Funke won the 200 breast title with a time of 1:58.15 and was runner-up in the 100 breast with a time of 54.73. This past season, Funke transferred again to Cincinnati.
I know this article is headlined as college swimmers that made cuts, but there were about 12 cuts achieved at that meet – obviously by more swimmers than the three you named (some of which were also college swimmers). So, kudos to these swimmers, but congratulations are also in order for other swimmers who were there and also achieved cuts (David Dixon, Jessey Li, Kristen Murslack, Griffin Manning and Tim Stollings, to name a few).
Griffin Manning from Cleveland State (representing Mason Manta Rays) in 100 Breast
Tim Stollings (NCAA DII Nat Champ from Findlay) in 100 fly