Chicago, Ill. — Truman State Swimming turned in one of its strongest collective showings of the season at the 16th Annual Phoenix Fall Classic, using the mid-season championship environment to post over 25 personal bests, nearly 30 season bests, 40 finals appearances, and two new program records across three days of racing. With deep lineups on both sides and standout swims from upperclass leaders and first-year contributors alike, the Bulldogs finished 7th in both the women's and men's team standings as they hit the midpoint of the competitive calendar.
The program's stated goals entering the weekend were to race aggressively, post meaningful mid-season markers, and set a foundation for the push toward February. Over the course of the meet, the Bulldogs delivered exactly that, highlighted by program-record swims from Jacob Wolf in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, as well strong mid-distance freestyle performances from Taylor Graham, and high-placing breaststroke and backstroke finishes from Chloe Myers and Jahmia Harley.
Friday: Relays Set the Tone
Truman opened its weekend with four heats of the 200 freestyle relay, where both the men's and women's A-squads placed inside the top 15. The women's A relay of Harley, Walker, Hough, and Myers placed 13th, while the men's A quartet of Durbin, Due, Lee, and Bobiv finished 11th, using strong back-half splits to climb the standings late.
In the evening individual session, Taylor Graham led the Bulldogs in the 500 freestyle, finishing 15th on the women's side, with teammates Marianne Dean and Ana Williamson also scoring in the top 25. The men added additional early-meet finalists through aggressive IM and freestyle prelims, highlighted by Jacob Wolf's 21st-place finish in the 200 IM.
Sprinters closed out Friday with the 50 freestyle, where Jahmia Harley (24th) led the women and Dennis Bobiv placed 18th for the men. The session ended with a strong set of 400 medley relays, including the men's A team finishing 19th and the women's A team taking 18th to capture relay finals points on both sides.
Saturday: Records Fall and Finals Pile Up
Saturday marked Truman's deepest day of finals across all events.
In the morning, the 200 medley relays set the tone with the women's A squad finishing 9th and the men's A relay placing 16th, both posting season-best marks. That momentum carried directly into the individual events, starting with Maddie Schmidt, who reached the 400 IM finals, ultimately finishing 15th and delivering one of the Bulldogs' most composed mid-distance performances of the meet.
The men followed with two IM finalists of their own—Eli Springvloed (21st) and Wade LaValle (25th)—as the group continued adding depth-lane scoring throughout the day.
The stroke events proved to be the defining highlight of Saturday.
One of the premier Bulldog performances of the weekend came from Chloe Myers, who placed 4th in the 100 breaststroke, earning one of the top Truman finishes of the meet. She returned later to finish 13th in the 200 breaststroke as part of a strong multi-event showing that included personal bests in both breaststroke races.
In the backstroke events, Jahmia Harley turned in some of the most impactful women's performances of the meet, placing 6th in the 100 back and 12th in the 200, also contributing critical relay legs throughout the weekend. Her 100 back swim also registered a new personal best.
Saturday closed with the 800 freestyle relays, where the women's A relay (Graham, Dessau, Lynch, Dean) placed 10th and the men's A relay (Wolf, Moore, Wolfmeyer, Richter) finished 11th, giving Truman another pair of top-tier relay finishes during the meet's longest relay event .
Sunday: Distance Strength and a Historic Backstroke Finale
The final day featured heavy scoring in the distance events, highlighted by Taylor Graham, who placed 15th in the mile freestyle and capped her weekend with three scoring individual events and major relay contributions in all freestyle distances. Maddie Schmidt added a 20th-place finish in the mile, reinforcing Truman's strong distance core.
The men added two scoring finishers in the mile, Wade LaValle (23rd) and Peyton Sewell (26th), continuing their consistent distance presence across the weekend.
But the defining moment of Sunday, and arguably the entire meet, came in the men's 200 backstroke, where Jacob Wolf placed 6th and broke the Truman school record, stopping the clock at 1:48.95. This effort followed his earlier record in the 100 backstroke, where he reset his own mark with a 50.01 during prelims before finishing 6th in finals. Both swims were personal bests and set the technical tone for Truman's men throughout the meet.
Truman closed the meet with four heats of the 400 freestyle relay, highlighted by the men's A relay placing 12th and the women's A relay taking 20th, securing the program's final points of the weekend.
Team Scoring and Performance Highlights
By the end of the three-day meet, Truman totaled:
Women
Top Women's Scorers:
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Jahmia Harley — 6th (100 back), 12th (200 back), 24th (50 free)
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Chloe Myers — 4th (100 breast), 13th (200 breast), 27th (200 IM)
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Taylor Graham — 19th (200 free), 15th (500 free), 15th (1650 free)
Men
Top Men's Scorers:
The 2025 Phoenix Fall Classic marked a successful and meaningful mid-season benchmark for Truman State Swimming. With significant improvements across event groups, major scoring contributions from veterans and newcomers, and two new school records, the Bulldogs positioned themselves strongly heading into winter training and the GLVC Championship phase.
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