2010 NESCAC Championships

[Colbybr]

I guess I was expecting too much for another Colby upset over Bowdoin and Bates at this meet. I e-mailed my old coach and he told me that they were brining only 13 guys.

[LordJeffFree]

Heading into tonights finals, here are a few quick observations. I'm sure I'll have more to say in the next couple days when I have more time.

Ben McBratney - Fantastic meet all around. Two event wins and a third place on top of great relay swims. Definitely took a big step forward this year and moved into the elite tier of the conference.

Owen Rood 19.52 on end of 2 medley - had a very fast start to take the lead in the air and held off Fraser for the win on the second lap

800 free relay - great race between Amherst and Williams. Closer than I expected. Ryan Colby and Alex Fraser stepped up with impressive swims to bring the relay home for Amhersts win. They're the second seed for NCAAs in the event

Lichtenfels and Dyrkacz - great 400 IMs and meets all around. Incredible how many events each of these guys could swim at a top 8 level in the meet. So versatile and so talented.

Tonights 400 free relay should be an amazing race between Amherst Middlebury Tufts and Williams. I stand by my Amherst prediction with Midd my choice for second

[swimfan56]

Obsevations:
Great races through out, Midd was very strong, 400FR was outstanding.
John Dillon was great
Any one able to tell me if that was all Lichtenfels had?, from the last 150 looks like he was just going thru the motions?
Tim White picked it up in the 200back, and had a great swim.
Tuft's second place will likely be their last for a while since Amherst only graduates 2 and has a large # committed.
Jeffree had it right with the 3-4 of the best 40, for Tufts
Freshman from Williams were as good as they were sold to be.
So when will the final list be out for Minn?

[Just Ducky]

That was quite a showing by Williams, and so it begs the question: did Tufts REALLY post that video, or was that someone else punking them? Did Tufts really think they could de-throne Williams and, if so, at what point on Friday do you think they began to rue the their decision to post that video?

Who does Amherst have committed for next year? Will they challenge the Ephs next year? They have only a slightly wider gap to close than Tufts had going into this year's meet.

[lapdog]

If you are referring to the 1650, I thought Lichtenfel's last 150 was strong. His splints seem to reflect that.
John Dillon was very impressive in the 2 fly despite getting some bad grub at a local deli on Sunday afternoon. He really put the hammer down on the last 50.

[swimnut]

Quite an exciting weekend. I'm sure Solomon was happy to see Dillon and Divers back in the fold after their year "vacation". Losing Beaman will be tough. I thought Hamilton surprised people with 5th, battling with Conn. the entire meet, even though they were missing Brennan from the meet. Wesleyan struggled a bit but diving certainly helped their cause. Bates swam well but I don't think the Admission gods will be as kind to them as they have been over the past few years. Should be interesting!

[LordJeffFree]

Williams – Impressive meet all around. They had impressive swims by Wampler (although I expected him to be slightly faster in the 50 free), Roberson (mainly his 200 free, the event he didn't actually swim individually), Dyrkacz (all around meet, 400 IM was especially good) and many more that I can't really recount without just rolling through the top 8 of every event. Thoroughly dominant performance, and their freshman class shows that they will be an impressive team for many years. While they lose some talented swimmers in the senior class, there is definitely no one who will be too difficult to replace. Looks like a team of 9 for NCAAs, and I would expect a top 10 finish at the meet.

One big question I have is about Ben Wampler. He was listed as a sophomore in the heat sheet. While he skipped most of last season, he still swam in at least one meet and possibly two, I can't remember exactly. Does he retain two years of eligibility after this or will he only have one more?

Tufts – 24 swimmers goes a long way in pulling off second place, although they scored 80 fewer points than last year. Their relays stepped up and performed above my expectations, especially the 200 medley which pulled out the win. Owen Rood impressed throughout the week (20.33 in time trial makes him one of the top seeds in the country and 19.52 shows it wasn't a fluke), carrying 6 other swimmers with him to NCAAs as he was the only individual qualifier. Definitely no chance of swimming with Williams, but they held off Amherst on the last night with their depth. I'd expect around a top 15 finish at NCAAs on the strength of their short relays.

Amherst – Dominant at the top end and an impressive point total given the number of people they had at the meet (including 0 divers). Fraser and Lichtenfels performed up to expectations, and Ben McBratney joined them at the very top end of the performers in the conference. 91 points including two wins and a 25.17 breaststroke split that went a long way towards helping the 200 medley get to NCAAs. Lichtenfels almost seemed to be toying with Roberson in the mile as he sat next to him for 1450 yards and then proceeded to split 146.9 for the last 200, 51.2 for the last 100. He is seeded first in the event for NCAAs, and he has a good shot to pull off the win. Tim White came through with a win in the 200 back that gets him another chance at all of his events at NCAAs (possibly trying the 500 instead of the 200 IM). Their 800 free relay is seeded second for NCAAs, and I would expect their 400 medley to improve when they use McBratney in breaststroke and Homchick in fly at the meet. Seven people should be invited to the meet, and I'd look for another top 5 performance from them. I'd be surprised if they didn't win an event or two between the combination of Lichtenfels and Fraser.

Middlebury – Swam well above what I thought was their potential. Won the 400 medley and 400 free relays and false started on a 200 free relay that would have won. John Dillon was extremely impressive, and I would expect him to compete for wins at NCAAs in the 100 and 200 fly events. Nick Daly and Bob Divers stepped up to a new level (still would like to know why Divers didn't swim his freshman year), and Beeman returned to his form from two years ago. Peter Solomon deservingly won the Coach of the Year award, and I would look for them to put together around a top 8 finish at NCAAs, something I never would have predicted until this weekend.

Conn College – Underwhelming performance compared to my expectations. Moryan had an off meet, and their relays didn't come together nearly as well as they did last year. Walsh and Troy still went fast and will head to NCAAs, but I expected a better all around performance from this team

Bowdoin – Routh and Mecray were really the only big contributors, and I don't think Mecray really lived up to expectations. He swam significantly slower in the 100 breast than he did all season long. Their team also really struggles when it comes to the longer events, as I'm not sure that they really put in the type of work necessary to come through with big swims on taper in anything other than the 50s.

I don't really know enough to comment fully on the rest of the teams. Quick thoughts -

My only observation about Wesleyan was that Brendan Fortin looked like a completely different swimmer at night in the 200 fly in going 154 compared to the 2:00 he struggled through in the morning. Not sure how you end up with that big of a difference on the same day.

Bates- Up and down meet. Aupi and Boniface were good, but I think that guys like Depew disappointed.

Hamilton – Pulled off 5th place but actually scored 10 fewer points than last year.