The Saint Louis University men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs wrapped up their seasons at the Atlantic 10 Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., over the weekend. Despite strong individual performances, especially on the women’s side, the Billiken teams finished in the bottom end of the standings. The women placed eighth with 307 points, while the men finished eighth with 238 points. The men’s squad was only one point behind the University of Rhode Island, which earned 239 points.
The Bills came out of the blocks in seventh place on the women’s side, as the team of Lindsey Tamkun, Elena Ramirez, Jillian Smith and Jenny Lutzen combined for a time of 1:48.98 in the 200 medley race. Their posted time was a mere six one-hundredths behind the sixth place Xavier University team. The Spider squad from the University of Richmond set the pace, finishing in 1:43.49.
Also on day one of competition were the diving events, where the Billikens’ performance bolstered the SLU score. Anna Larson, Erin Lasinski and Emily Walter finished in sixth, seventh and eighth places, respectively, in the one-meter dive. Larson’s score of 430.90 was nine points behind the fifth place mark, but Walter’s score of 418.05 was 223 points ahead of the next-best finisher. La Salle diver Katie Gifford took first place in the event with a conference record score of 493.95.
The 800 free relay team of Emily Triggs, Emily Oberjohn, Lutzen and Erica Polachek finished the women’s first day by clocking a time of 7:50.78, good for ninth place. Their time was 22 seconds off the first place pace. Their race standing helped the Bills slide into third place after the first day of competition.
Day two of competition did not treat the Bills quite as well. Oberjohn opened the day with a 12th place finish in the 500 free, while Laura Robertson also came in 12th in her race, the 200 individual medley. SLU did not place a swimmer in the 50 free race. The combination of Ramirez, Oberjohn, Lutzen and Emily Stuifbergen improved on the day’s events with a seventh place finish in the 200 free relay. Their time of 1:39.01 was only 11 one-hundredths out of fifth place.
After the Bills’ slide on day two, Robertson got the third day started with a third place finish in the 400 IM. Ramirez clocked a time of 55.93 seconds, which earned her a first place spot on the podium. Ramirez also took this event in 2006.
Lutzen followed Ramirez’s finish with an eighth place spot of her own in the 200 free while Tamkun earned a sixth place spot in the 100 back.
SLU found their way back to the top of the podium with Larson’s win in the three-meter dive, setting a record with 552.10 points. Lasinski also placed ninth in the event. The Bills closed out the third day with a seventh place finish in the 400 medley.
The Bills began day four with the 1650 free race, where Katie Kotowski placed 11th. Tamkun built on her performance by finishing in fifth place in the 200 backstroke. Her time of 2:05.80 narrowly missed the fourth place pace of 2:05.75.
After not earning points in either the 100 free or 200 breaststroke, Ramirez took the 200 butterfly by a margin of nearly two seconds to earn the Bills and Ramirez their next gold. The Bills then closed the meet with a 10th place finish in the 400 free relay on the backs of Ramirez, Robertson, Oberjohn and Lutzen.
The men’s squad did not fare as well as the women’s throughout the weekend. The Bills started their weekend with a ninth place finish, of nine, in the 200 medley race on the backs of Kevin Parker, Tim Adams, Josh Stephens and Jimmy Ritt.
SLU improved their lot in the next event, coming in seventh in the 800 free relay, as Brad Byars, Trafton, Parker and Ritt earned that place. Those finishes put the Bills in eighth to start the weekend.
SLU started day two without placing in the first race, the 500 free. Steve Sash earned the 14th spot in the 200 IM to earn the first Billiken points of the day, and Byars clocked a time of 21.21 seconds in the 50 free to earn a sixth spot. His time was just three-tenths of a second behind the first place finisher.
Unlike the women’s side, the one-meter dive did not help the men, as Kristopher Priemer was the only SLU diver to earn points, finishing 15th-nearly 500 points off of the lead. The day ended with the Bills’ fourth place finish in the 200 free, behind the effort of Sash, Josh Stephens, Byars and Trafton.
Day three was much of the same for the men, who began with an 11th place finish in the 400 IM, as Justin Breithaupt clocked a time of 4:09.38. Stephens also locked up an 11th place finish in the 100 fly. Like the women, the men’s side did not earn any points in the 200 free, but snuck into 16th place behind Adams. Parker added a seventh place finish in the 100 back. The day ended when the Bills placed sixth in the 400 medley behind efforts from Parker, Adams, Stephens and Byars.
The last day began with Billikens B.J. Brungardt and Timothy Gusick finishing consecutively in the 1650 free in 16th and 17th places.
Parker once again placed in a backstroke event, coming in ninth in the 200-yard race. Byars added a third place finish in the 100 free, just 28 hundredths off the first place pace. Sash and Sal Cruz finished in ninth and 10th places in the 200 breast. Parker continued his points binge by floating his way to a ninth place finish in the 200 fly.
As the three-meter dive unfolded, Priemer finished in 12th place out of 14 divers. A sixth place finish by the 400 free relay team of Trafton, Byars, Stephens and Sash closed the weekend and locked the Bills into ninth place.
Aside from her championship, Larson qualified for the NCAA Zone diving competitions in the platform, one-meter and three-meter events. The events will take place March 2-4 in Texas.
