Champs again?

Both men’s and women’s teams are defending conference champs and will be favored when they swim Conference at Lawrence this weekend

by Josh Cooley

Any visitor to the PEC last Wednesday afternoon could not have missed the swimming and diving teams, dressed in only their swimsuits, as they stormed out of the PEC locker room and ran a lap around the indoor track, uttering motivational shrieks and grunts.

The Pioneer swimmers and divers have spent the past week pumping themselves up for their final meet of the season, the Midwest Conference Championship. The men bleached their hair and the women dyed theirs in various colors, from orange to purple. In another gesture of team bonding, the women’s team made t-shirts for everyone on the team.

“We’ve had a lot of activities together, which accentuated how excited we were,” said Amber Gedlinske ’04.

Head coach Erin Hurley has also been assisting in the efforts to motivate the Pioneers for Conference.

“She gave us [the swimmers] a sheet with times and how they’ve improved over the season, and [she gave the] divers a sheet with their scores and how they’ve increased,” said Teej Anspach ’06.

The Pioneers are pumped up to defend their Midwest conference titles. The men are vying for their third straight title, while the women are hoping to sixpeat as Conference champs. Though the Pioneers won’t have the advantage of swimming at home that they did last year, Hurley still expects both teams to perform well. With the men undefeated in duel competition this year, Eric “Country” Blevins ’04 believes his team can bring home another championship.

“I don’t want to sound cocky, but let’s just put it this way; a lot would have to happen for us not to win,” he said.

Hurley echoed similar confidence, saying “we probably have a better men’s team (talent-wise) than we had last year. We are a little deeper. … On paper, our men should dominate more than last year.”

The meet is especially important for Blevins, who will be attempting to win his seventh and eighth consecutive titles on the 1 meter and the 3 meter boards respectively. If he succeeds, he will be the first male diver in the history of the MWC to achieve such an honor. His fellow diver Anspach believes Blevins is up to the challenge.

“Country is going to have one of the best meets he’s ever had. I’m positive he’s going to win both boards, no problem,” he said.

The women, however, will be challenged by both Lake Forest and Lawrence. This year’s Forester team has been strengthened by first-year Chelsea Bueter, who has dominated her races so far throughout the season, several times being named MWC swimmer of the week.

“On the women’s side, I am not sure if we are as deep as last year,” said Hurley. “The conference on the women’s side is also quite improved. But both teams respond extremely well when challenged, and I am expecting that to be the case at Conference. We all know we will be really challenged there.”

Though it will be the last meet of the season for most of the Pioneers, several swimmers and divers will be trying to qualify for nationals. In the pool, Rachel Sellon ‘04, Kevin Wood ‘07, Gene Petersen ‘05, Braden Pence ‘05 and Peter Brown ’06 will all attempt to extend their seasons. On the boards, Blevins and Sarah Stayer ‘06, who have both already posted national qualifying scores on both boards, will both be trying to land flawless dives, as they prepare their qualifying tapes to send to the national diving committee.

Sidebar: The teams to beat

Grinnell men’s and women’s swimming have swept the last two tournaments. The women, indeed, have won five straight titles. However, if Grinnell doesn’t triumph this year, it’s a pretty good bet as to where their competition will come from. Between them, Lake Forest, Grinnell and Lawrence have grabbed the top three spots at Conference in each of the last three seasons, often with no close rivals. Grinnell, however, dominated in both men’s and women’s last year, and no current women’s swimmer was at Grinnell the last time an opponent gave the Pioneers a serious challenge for the conference title. The results:

2003 Women Score

1. Grinnell 671

2. Lake Forest 453

3. Lawrence 310

2003 Men

1. Grinnell 570

2. Lake Forest 449

3. Lawrence 414

2002 Women

1. Grinnell 924

2. Lawrence 628

3. Lake Forest 485

2002 Men

1. Grinnell 816

2. Lawrence 802

3. Lake Forest 606

2001 Women

1. Grinnell 658

2. Lake Forest 439.5

3. Lawrence 312.5

2001 Men

1. Lake Forest 531

2. Grinnell 454

3. Lawrence 441