PICTURED ABOVE: Kirsty Nitz won three individual National Championships at the 2013 NCAA Championships.
FINAL RESULTS
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Shenandoah, Texas - The Wheaton women's swim team wrapped up its participation in the 2013 NCAA Championships on Saturday. Wheaton finished with 98 team points which placed the unit in a tie for 10th place overall. It was Wheaton's best team finish since a seventh place finish in 2003. Emory won the team championship with 619 team points. Head coach
Jon Lederhouse noted of Wheaton's performance, "We scored zero team points last year so from nothing to tenth is pretty good. All our gals raced great mentally and emotionally and that is why we even had a few faster swims than the CCIW Championships."
SATURDAY RECAP
Kirsty Nitz once again highlighted the action for the Thunder as she captured her third individual National Championship by winning the 200-yard backstroke in 1:57.30. Nitz, who qualified second in the prelims, just edged Kenyon's Celia Oberholzer (1:57.89), who qualified with the fasted time in the event earlier in the day. The time set a new school record in the 200-yard backstroke and was the second fastest recorded time in Division III history.
Also with her victory, Nitz becomes the first women's swimmer in school history to win three individual National Championships.
In the closing event of the evening, Wheaton's 400-yard freestyle relay team of
Sarah Coley,
Katie Cialkowski,
Kelly Ormond and
Kirsty Nitz finished in 10th place with a time of 3:27.44, three-hundreths of a second faster than their preliminary time.
Earlier in the day
Chelsey Long finished 24th in the preliminaries of the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:23.92.
Carlie Herich turned in a season best time of 17:27.13 in the 1650-yard freestyle to finish in 19th place. Also in the 200-yard backstroke preliminaries,
Jamie Walitsch finished with the 28th best time in 2:08.61.
Kirsty Nitz interviewed after winning 200-yard backstroke.
FRIDAY RECAP
The Thunder 800-yard freestyle relay team of
Kirsty Nitz,
Carlie Herich (PICTURED LEFT),
Sarah Coley and
Katie Cialkowski turned in a preliminary time of 7:30.43, a time that broke the existing school record by 11 seconds. In her leg, Cialkowski shaved off over two seconds from her open 200-yard freestyle time earlier in the week. The time would lead to a ninth place overall finish for the Thunder, their best finish in the event since 2008.
Also participating on Friday,
Jamie Walitsch placed 40th in the preliminaries of the 100-yard backstroke.
Wheaton currently sits in 12th overall with 64 team points. Emory University currently leads with 428.5 points.
The NCAA Championships wrap up with the final day competition on Saturday. For live results from the event, click
here. For live video coverage from Texas, click
here.
THURSDAY RECAP
Kirsty Nitz won her second National Championship in as many days, beating Kenyon's Hannah Saiz to the wall in a time of 53.08 in the 100-yard butterfly. Saiz clocked a time of 53.20 in the Finals. Saiz turned in the top time in the preliminaries, while Nitz qualified third with a time of 54.07. Nitz' top time in the event this year came in the CCIW Championships when she clocked a national-best time of 53.06 seconds.
With her second National Championship this week, Nitz becomes the first member of the Wheaton women's swimming program to win two individual National Championships in the same year since Kelly Stewart in 2000. With a victory in the 200-yard backstroke on Saturday, Nitz would become the first women's swimmer in school history to win three individual National Championships in the same year.
Nitz was also a member of Wheaton's 200-yard freestyle relay (PICTURED RIGHT) that qualified for the consolation finals in 15th-place in the prelims with a time of 1:36.25. She teamed with
Marcey Wennlund,
Kelly Ormond and
Ali Offerdahl in the event. The foursome posted a time of 1:36.25 in the consolation finals of the event to finish 14th, securing six team points for the Thunder in the team standings.
In the 400-yard medley relay, Wheaton's team of
Jamie Walitsch,
Chelsey Long, Nitz and Offerdahl just missed qualifying for the consolation heat by finishing in 19th place with a time of 3:57.35.
Walitsch turned in a time of 4:38.99 to finish 27th in the preliminaries in the 400-yard individual medley. In the 200-yard freestyle
Katie Cialkowski placed 38th in the preliminaries with a time of 1:54.49.
Kirsty Nitz interviewed after winning 100-yard butterfly.
WEDNESDAY RECAP
Kirsty Nitz participated in the first of her three individual events for the week on Wednesday by winning the National Championship in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.87 seconds. Nitz set an NCAA record previously in the season wth a time of 22.66 at the CCIW Championships. Earlier in the day she recorded the fastest time in the preliminaries with a time of 22.82 seconds. She is the only woman in Division III this season to have broken the 23-second mark in the event.
With the victory, Nitz becomes just the fourth Wheaton women's swimmer to win an NCAA-III National Championship in an individual event and the first since
Kelly Stewart won the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle in 2000. She is the first Thunder athlete to win an individual National Championship in any sport since wrestler
Dan Weber in 2001.
Wheaton's 200-yard medley relay team of
Jamie Walitsch,
Sarah Coley,
Marcey Wennlund and
Kelly Ormond turned in a preliminary time of 1:49.06, which placed them 21st overall, but short of qualifying for the eight-team final. Wheaton entred the event with the 26th best time overall.
The Thunder will continue their participation in the NCAA-III Championships through Saturday. For live results from the event, click
here. For live video coverage from Texas, click
here.
Kirsty Nitz interviewed after winning 50-yard freestyle.
