GLVC Championships Come to Close: Women Take 2nd, Men Take 6th

Truman Day Four Times (PDF)

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - - The Truman State University women's swimming team captured second place, while the Bulldog men finished sixth, as the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships came to a close on Saturday night.

Three more school records fell on the final day, as both Tim Regan (1:50.35 in the 200 Back) and Neil Girmus (2:01.58 in the 200 Breast) logged new top spots on the men's side, while Evyn Spencer moved her way to the top of the 100 Back charts with a 56.34 time trial. All three set new NCAA Div. II B-cuts as part of 10 on the day for the Bulldogs.

Spencer was joined in the A-flight final of the 100 Free by both Nikki Sisson and Alison Strickler, with all three posting new B-cut times in the event.

The top individual finsh of the day cam two events later, as Abby Hempen placed second in the 200 Breast with a mark of 2:19.56. She had previously touched at 2:17.22 prior to the event - an NCAA B-cut standard.

Girmus led three 'Dogs in both A- and B-finals of the 200 Breast, while four women scored points in the 200 Fly finals.

Will Shanel, fresh off his A-Cut in the 400 IM last night added a third event that he will swim at nationals when he swam a 1:48.93 time in the 200 Fly prelims before finishing fourth in the finals.

Early in the day, both Jasmine Roghair and Joel Schawe took third in their respective 1650 Free distance races, with Meghan Senne adding a B-cut of her own with a fifth-place finish.

The Bulldogs will now await official word from the NCAA Selection Committee regarding choices for the 2015 NCAA Div. II Championships, to be held March 11-14, 2015, in Indianapolis. The official invite list will not be posted until at least Monday, March 23rd, as multiple Div. II conferences still have league championships to conduct next weekend.

Full Friday Recap

Truman Day Three Times (PDF)

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - - Freshman Will Shanel broke a Truman record in the 400 IM prelim, then broke both it and the Great Lakes Valley Conference record in the Friday night finals to highlight day three of action at the 2015 GLVC Swimming & Diving Championships.

Shanel, sophomore Evyn Spencer (women's 100 Fly), and sophomore Neil Girmus (100 Breast) will move onto the west wall of the Pershing Natatorium record board after Friday's competition, as Spencer notched a program record with a time of 54.85 and a second-place finish. Girmus picked up a prelim time of 55.86 to set a new Truman standard in the 100 Breast.

Shanel obliterated the competition in the 400 IM, winning the prelim (3:54.15) by nearly seven full seconds before taking the finals by 7.41 seconds against Missouri S&T's senior Ryan Layne. Shanel will automatically advance to the 2015 NCAA Div. II Swimming & Diving Championships in mid-March, as his finals time of 3:51.16 broke the A-cut barrier.

On the day, the Bulldogs picked up three new B-cuts (two individual, one relay) and added two extra B-cuts behind times previously set.

Ashley Shanel opened the action with a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM, setting a B-cut mark of 4:31.32. She and teammate Morgan Foxworthy (4:40.27; 8th) scored 26 points for the Truman team in the race.

In addition to Will Shanel's heroics in the men's 400 IM, Joel Schawe (seventh), Andrew Smith (11th), Dustin Smith (15th), and Derek Mielke (16th) each scored for the 'Dogs in that event.

Spencer's new school record in the 100 Fly also gave her an improved B-cut time, as she was one of three swimmers in the heated race to break the previous GLVC record.

Nikki Sisson added a B-cut time in the 200 Free as one of five Bulldog women to score in that event, as Alison Strickler (ninth), Jamie Fitzpatrick (11th), Kortney Betz (13th), and Kristi VanOost (14th) dominated the B-finals.

In the women's 100 Breast, Abby Hempen logged a B-cut time during her prelim round (1:04.63) before finishing fourth in the finals with a mark of 1:04.74. She and Ally Neumann (sixth) scored in the championship final, with Girmus' school record prelim pacing his 56.01 finals time and seventh-place finish.

After tying in the prelims of the 100 Back, Grace Fodor edged teammate Hannah Nicks in the finals, finishing fourth and fifth respectively for 29 combined team points.

Finally, the Bulldog quartet of Stricker, Hempen, Spencer, and Sisson led the Truman women's 400 Medley Relay squad to a second-place finish in the last event of the night, picking up an important B-cut time of 3:50.50. Truman's men's squad of Riley Brown, Girmus, Shanel, and Etienne Thro finished fifth with a mark of 3:24.18.

The Bulldog women sit in a comfortable second-place after Friday's third day, having compiled 537.5 total points - nearly 200 clear of third-place Indianapolis. Drury holds the lead with 740 points.

On the men's side, a tight race is ensuing in the middle of the pack, with Truman's sixth-place total of 301 just 19 back of fifth-place William Jewell. Lewis University is just ahead of the Cardinals in fourth at 343.5.

Saturday's prelim events get underway at 9:30 a.m. (CT) with the 200 Back, the 100 Free, the 200 Breast, and the 200 Fly. The 1650 Free events will take place in a special 2:30 p.m. (CT) session, followed by the last night of finals at 5 p.m. (CT). The 400 Free Relay joins the aforementioned prelim events during the finals competition on Saturday night.

Full Thursday Recap

Truman Day Two Times (PDF)
GLVC Complete Day Two Times (PDF)
Friday Psych Sheet (PDF)

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - - The Truman swimming teams made a noise all day long on day two at the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, but none louder than in the 200 IM events where Evyn Spencer grabbed first-place on the women's side, and Will Shanel set a new school record on the men's side.

Spencer captured her second GLVC individual title in as many seasons, wrapping up the 200 IM championship with a time of 2:02.56 - improving her already-impressive NCAA Div. II B-cut in the process. Then, after breaking the previous school record of 1:52.02 from 2006 in the morning prelims with a time of 1:51.13, Shanel did .02 better than that in the finals - touching in seventh with a mark of 1:51.11 for a B-cut as well.

On the day, the Bulldogs added 13 new B-Cuts to the ledger, as Kortney Betz (5:02.06) and Jasmine Roghair (5:04.76) opened the evening with third- and fifth-place finishes in the 500 Free. Kristi VanOost added a seventh-place finish, while Meghan Senne captured the consolation final title.

Tim Regan added a B-cut in the men's 500 Free with his prelim time of 4:35.02, with Joel Schawe swimming a time trial in the 500 Free and securing a B-cut time of 4:38.08.

Spencer's 200 IM guided all four Bulldog women into B-cuts, as Abby Hempen (2:07.78 in prelim), Hannah Nicks (2:07.22 in prelim) and Ally Neumann (2:07.81 in finals) also gave themselves a chance for NCAA selection. The quartet combined for 48 team points in that event alone.

Shanel's seventh-plce finish in the 200 IM preceded both Nikki Sisson (23.85) and Alison Strickler (23.94) each earning B-cuts in the 50 Free. Neil Girmus' prelim time of 20.65 added Truman's 12th and final individual NCAA-standard on the day in the men's 50 Free.

Finally, in the 200 Free Relay to close out the night, the Bulldog grouping of Spencer, Strickler, Jamie Fitzpatrick, and Sisson rallied for a time of 1:34.94 - good for second-place just behind first-place Drury and 34 team points. The Bulldogs' top men's unit of Tim Senholtz, Etienne Thro, George Dowdy, and Girmus finished fifth in the men's race, picking up 28 points with a mark of 1:24.01.

The Bulldog women sit second in the team's standings, while the Bulldog men are sixth overall heading into Friday's day three of action at the conference championships. Prelims in the 400 IM, the 100 Fly, the 200 Free, the 100 Breast, and the 100 Back begin at 9:30 a.m. (CT), with 400 Medley Relay joining those event's finals tomorrow night at 5 p.m. (CT).

Full Wednesday Recap

Truman Day One Times (PDF)
GLVC Complete Day One Times (PDF)

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - - A new school record will go up on the wall of the Pershing Natatorium, as the men's 800 Free Relay team smashed a previous Truman-best by more than two full seconds to highlight a successful first day at the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships.

The Bulldog women sit in second place with 134 total points - 18 behind first-place Drury - while the Bulldog men hold down fourth-place with 105 points through day one. Both teams landed in strong placement after the first three events on both sides, as the 1000 Freestyle, the 200 Medley Relay, and the 800 Free Relay events were contested on opening day.

Jasmine Roghair (4th place; 10:21.19) and Meghan Senne (5th place; 10:30.99) kicked the day off with a pair of B-cuts for the Bulldog women in the 1000 Free, combining with Taylor Voelker's ninth-place finish to earn 38 fast points for the purple and white. Meanwhile, on the men's side, Joel Schawe (6th place; 9:30.04) notched a B-cut of his own, with Quentin Bishop (9th place), Tim Regan (10th place) and Jeff Cavanaugh (15th place) also contributing to Truman's 31 total points in the event.

Then, in the evening session, the Bulldog quartet of Grace Fodor, Abby Hempen, Evyn Spencer, and Alison Strickler brought the 'Dogs in just behind first-place Drury in the 200 Medley Relay, touching with a time of 1:44.18 - a new B-cut and a 34-point finish.

However, it was the 800 Free Relay that provided the night's fireworks, as the Bulldog women opened the event with a second-place touch of 7:36.28. The team of Spencer, Kristi VanOost, Nikkie Sisson, and Jamie Fitzpatrick notched an improved B-cut, with Spencer's opening-leg time of 1:52.05 also setting a new season top-standard and B-cut of her own.

Moments later, the Bulldog men re-wrote the history books, as Will Shanel, Alec Morgan, Tim Regan, and Neil Girmus exploded for a time of 6:46.66 - besting the previous school-record of 6:49.08, which was set in March of 2009. The grouping scored 28 points with their B-cut, fifth-place finish.

Also on the day, Hempen swam alone in a 400 IM time trial and lowered her already second-best conference mark to 4:28.63 - an NCAA B-cut time. She will now not swim in the full 400 IM event on Friday.

The teams get back to action on day two at 9:30 a.m. (CT) with the 500 Free, the 200 IM, and the 50 Free prelims, while the 200 Free Relay will join that trio in tomorrow night's finals competitions.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Foxworthy: Breast/IM; Sophomore

Abby Hempen: Breast/IM; Senior

Ally Neumann: Breast; Sophomore

Hannah Nicks: Free/Back/IM; Sophomore

Meghan Senne: Free; Junior

Ashley Shanel: Free/Back/IM; Junior

Evyn Spencer: Free/Back/Fly/IM; Sophomore

Alison Strickler: Free/Back; Sophomore

Taylor Voelker: Free/Back; Junior

Quentin Bishop: Free/IM; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Morgan Foxworthy
: Sophomore
: Breast/IM

Abby Hempen
: Senior
: Breast/IM

Ally Neumann
: Sophomore
: Breast

Hannah Nicks
: Sophomore
: Free/Back/IM

Meghan Senne
: Junior
: Free

Ashley Shanel
: Junior
: Free/Back/IM

Evyn Spencer
: Sophomore
: Free/Back/Fly/IM

Alison Strickler
: Sophomore
: Free/Back

Taylor Voelker
: Junior
: Free/Back

Quentin Bishop
: Sophomore
: Free/IM