CMS Men's Swimming and Diving Ranked No. 19 in Preseason CSCAA Poll

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team earned a spot in the preseason top 20 in Division III from the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America, the organization announced today.

CMS holds down the No. 19 spot in the poll, which features perennial powers Denison, Kenyon and Emory in the 1-2-3 positions. Johns Hopkins and Washington University round out the top five. 

The ranking comes out as the Stags are just over one week away from starting their season at UC San Diego on Saturday, Oct. 26. CMS finished last year as the runner-up in the SCIAC, but returns many of its top athletes as it looks to contend for a league title and a high finish at nationals. 

Both All-Americans from last year's team return again this season, as senior diver Kendall Hollimon returns for his final season with hopes of contending for national championships, particularly in the three-meter, where he has been in the top five all three years with the Stags, including a third-place finish last year. 

Junior Marco Conati, meanwhile, earned All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly, while capturing the SCIAC title in both the 100 fly and the 50 free. He ranks second in school history in the 100 fly, third in school history in the 100 free and fourth in the 50. 

Senior Henry Limm is also poised for a big senior season after earning All-SCIAC honors in the 200 breast in each of his first three seasons. He also earned a SCIAC championship in the 400 IM in 2017, an event in which he holds the CMS record (3:55.61), and ranks in the top 10 in school history in three different events (400 IM, 200 fly, 200 breast). 

In the distance events, senior Ben Culberson has earned a SCIAC championship in the 500 free, and holds the school record in both the 1000 (9:24.43) and 1650 (15:32.19). He has also been All-SCIAC in the 800 relay and holds the record at CMS in that event as well. Sophomore Michael Lee ranks No. 3 in program history in the 1650, while sophomore Matthew Waddell ranks in seventh in program history in the 1650 and junior Abel Sapirstein places eighth. In the 500, Lee places seventh, junior Kyrellos Ibrahim is eighth and Sapirstein is 10th. 

In the sprints, junior Andreas Roeseler qualified for the finals in the SCIAC Championships last year in both the 50 and the 100, despite not being 100 percent after a late-season injury, and earned All-SCIAC honors in three different relays. Juniors Daniel Hayon and Will Grassle were also part of the 200 free relay team that earned All-SCIAC accolades and placed fifth in program history at the SCIAC Championships. 

Sophomore Walter Limm will be a key contributor in the breaststroke events, along with his older brother Henry. Walter earned the fourth-best time in program history in the 100 breast last year, while Henry finished second in the 200. Junior Sean Hoerger also places in the top five in CMS annals in the 200 breast, an event in which he qualified for the finals at the SCIAC Championships last year. 

In the backstroke, senior Dave Makhervaks ranks second all-time in the 100 back and ninth in the 200 back, and earned All-SCIAC honors with a second-place finish in the 100 last year (as well as in both medley relays). Senior Sam Willett places third all-time in both backstroke events, while sophomore Nick Tan had a strong first season for the Stags, moving into the top 10 in program history in both the 100 (ninth) and the 200 (sixth). 

Conati is back to lead the way in the 100 fly, while Waddell moved into third place all time at CMS in the 200 fly last year as a freshman, putting him in the CMS top 10 in two events, along with the 1650.

After traveling to UC San Diego next weekend, CMS open SCIAC competition at Caltech on Nov. 9 and then host a tri-meet with Cal Lutheran and Chapman on Saturday, Nov. 16, starting at 10 a.m.