Stags Notch Victory Over Sagehens In Top-Ten Showdown
CLAREMONT, Calif. – This weekend the No. 9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags and No. 10 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens squared off in a two-day meet in Haldeman Pool. The Stags trailed 56-53 after Friday's events, but a strong Saturday for CMS saw the Stags win eight events and set four pool records to defeat the Sagehens 191-161 in the top-ten dual.
Friday Update – Sagehens lead Stags 56-53 (through six events)
Friday afternoon started off with the Sagehens claiming the 400 Medley Relay in a time of 3:20.04. The CMS team consisting of four Harvey Mudd swimmers, Dave Makhervaks (HMC), Henry Limm (HMC), Marco Conati (HMC), and Andreas Roeseler (HMC) finished second in the event with a time of 3:22.79. The Stags also earned the third-place team with a time of 3:24.87 from the team of Sam Willett (CMC), Aaron Lutzker (HMC), Jackson Crewe (HMC), and Patricio Madero (CMC).
In the second event of the day, Ben Culberson (CMC) came from behind on his final lap to claim the 500 Free. Culberson finished the race with a time of 4:37.86, including a 26.69 in his final 50 to finish just .03 ahead of Pomona-Pitzer's Will Abele.
Willett dominated the 200 IM taking first-place with a time of 1:51.78. Willet won the event by almost two seconds and set the pool record in Haldeman Pool. His time topped the previous pool record by exactly a second and gave Willet an NCAA 'B' Cut.
Kendall Hollimon (CMC) claimed the 3-meter diving competition by nearly doubling-up the second-place finisher. Hollimon finished with a score of 332.32 points, more than 160 points clear of Pomona-Pitzer's Billy Altantulkhuur.
Saturday Update – Stags defeat Sagehens 191-161
The Stags flexed their muscle on Saturday morning by winning eight of the 13 events contested in Haldeman Pool. In the process of defeating the Sagehens, CMS claimed four pool records and earned a pair of NCAA B cuts on Saturday.
Sam Willett earned the first of the B cuts by getting to the wall in 1:49.01 in the 200 Back. That mark also set a new pool record at Haldeman Pool. Willett was just ahead of teammate Dave Makhervaks, who touched in second-place in a time of 1:52.04.
In the 100 Back, Willett and Makhervaks flipped places. Makhervaks won the event and was just .02 seconds off of a B cut of his own. He won the event in a time of 50.29 with Willett registering a time of 50.51 to take second-place.
Henry Limm set a pool record in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:03.23. His time broke the pool record, which was previously held at 2:05.59, by over two seconds. He won the event and his time registered as an NCAA B cut.
For the second day in a row, Kendall Hollimon claimed a victory for the Stags in a diving competition. On Saturday, Hollimon won the one-meter event by setting a pool record with 268.20 points.
Aaron Lutzker along with his pals Limm and Sean Hoerger (HMC) dominated the 400 IM. The trio took the top three spots with Lutzker setting a pool record with a time of 4:03.19.
Other winners included Marco Conati in the 100 Fly (49.69), John Everett (CMC) in the 200 Fly (1:52.77), and Ben Culberson in the 1650 Free (16:23.09). The Stags dominated the 1650 Free with Abel Sapirstein (HMC) and Kyrellos Ibrahim (CMC) finishing second and third. In total the Stags had five of the six fastest times in the event.
The Stags will next compete in the New Year when they travel to the Cal Baptist Distance Meet on Jan. 5.
