Men's Swimming 2/10/2016 9:14:00 PM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Swimming Opens GLVC Championship with School, Conference Records

Truman Results
GLVC Championships Website

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - - Fueled by Evyn Spencer's GLVC record swim in the women's 200 IM and Will Shanel's twice-broken school record in the men's 200 IM, the Truman swimming teams find themselves in second (women) and fifth (men) places after day one at the 2016 Great Lakes Valley Conference championships.

The Bulldogs posted a combined 11 NCAA B-cuts and one NCAA A-cut on the opening day of competition, which saw preliminary and finals competitions in the 1000 free, the 200 IM, the 50 free, and the 200 medley relays for both the men and women.

Opening the night, six Bulldog women placed in the top-14 of the 1000 free, led by NCAA B-cuts for fourth-place Emma Barnett (10:14.64), sixth-place Shannon Dague (10:20.28), and ninth-place Jasmine Roghair (10:28.58). Meghan Senne (10^th; 10:33.94), Taylor Voelker (13^th; 10:41.71), and Ashley Shanel (14^th; 10:44.40) also scored points for the 'Dogs in the women's 1000 free. Meanwhile, on the men's side, JT Thayer posted an NCAA B-cut time of 9:31.87 to finish in ninth-place, while Alec Morgan (14^th; 9:40.62) and Quentin Bishop (16^th; 9:42.47) also picked up points for the Truman men.

The highlights of the day came in the 200 IM. After securing the top seed after a 2:04.14 prelim swim early in the day, Spencer torched the field in the final, logging an NCAA A-cut and GLVC record first-place time of 2:00.95. That mark secures her an automatic spot in the 2015 NCAA Div. II Swimming & Diving Championships, to be held in mid-March in Indianapolis. Hannah Nicks also picked up a B-cut with a fifth-place finish of 2:07.93, while Mackenzie Neeley also scored with a 2:10.72 15^th-place finish.

For the men in the 200 IM, the drama came early in the day for Shanel. After tying for eighth-place during the morning prelim, the sophomore was forced to compete in a swim-off to determine who advanced to the evening's top final. Shanel not only won the swim-off, but he did so in style – punctuating a new Truman record by breaking his own from a year ago with a mark of 1:49.15. Then, in the final, he bested that time again, going for 1:48.72, which notches an NCAA B-cut time and gave him a second-place finish in the race. Andrew Smith (1:53.14) and Tim Senholtz (1:53.25) scored by placing in 14^th and 16^th, respectively.

In the 50 free, three Bulldog women placed in the top-six, as Nikki Sisson (23.51) took second in front of Jamie Fitzpatrick (5^th; 24.01) and Alison Strickler (24.06; 6^th). All three were NCAA B-cut improved times. For the men, Neil Girmus earned a B-cut and a seventh-place finish at 20.66, while Sam Heveroh scored in the B-final with a 12^th-place time of 21.03.

Finally, the 200 medley relay saw the Bulldog women take second with a B-cut time of 1:46.09. That quartet consisted of Grace Fodor, Ally Neumann, Libby Opfer, and Alison Strickler. The Bulldog men, led by Riley Brown, Andrew Smith, Caleb Kruse, and George Dowdy, took seventh in their race with a time of 1:33.04.

The Bulldog women earned 175 points on day one to sit in second place behind Drury's top mark of 220. The men, meanwhile, are within striking distance of fourth-place Lewis (94) after the team scored 83 points on day one.

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Players Mentioned

Jamie Fitzpatrick: Free/Fly/Back; Sophomore

Grace Fodor: Free/Back/Fly; Sophomore

Mackenzie Neeley: Back/Fly/IM; Junior

Ally Neumann: Breast/Fly/IM; Junior

Hannah Nicks: Free/Back/IM; Junior

Libby Opfer: Free/Fly; Sophomore

Jasmine Roghair: Free; Sophomore

Meghan Senne: Free; Senior

Ashley Shanel: Free/Back/IM; Senior

Nikki Sisson: Free; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Jamie Fitzpatrick
: Sophomore
: Free/Fly/Back

Grace Fodor
: Sophomore
: Free/Back/Fly

Mackenzie Neeley
: Junior
: Back/Fly/IM

Ally Neumann
: Junior
: Breast/Fly/IM

Hannah Nicks
: Junior
: Free/Back/IM

Libby Opfer
: Sophomore
: Free/Fly

Jasmine Roghair
: Sophomore
: Free

Meghan Senne
: Senior
: Free

Ashley Shanel
: Senior
: Free/Back/IM

Nikki Sisson
: Sophomore
: Free