Washington University Swimming Teams Post Seven B-Cut Swims at Midwest Invitational

RESULTS

Chicago, Ill., February 25, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis swimming and diving teams posted seven B-cut swims to finish fourth in both the men’s and women’s team standings at the Midwest Invitational in Chicago.

Sophomore Chi Pham lowered her B-cut time in the 200-yard individual medley with a pool-record time of 2:07.12. The team of freshmen Sara Taege and Jennifer Tartavull, Pham and sophomore Allison Siegel won the 400 freestyle relay with a performance that lowered its B-cut time by 0.09 seconds to 3:31.59.

Sophomore Grace Murray also swam a B-cut in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:36.29. The final event win for the Washington U. women came from Siegel in the 50-yard freestyle (24.55).

The men’s team won three events and recorded three B-cuts in time trials. Freshman Luke Dobben swam a B-cut in the 500 freestyle, winning the event in a time of 4:36.21.

Senior Chris Valach won the 200 freestyle in 1:42.71 and led a group of four Bears who took the top four places in the event. Earning second through fourth were freshman Matt Nutter, Dobben and junior Mark Minowitz, respectively.

Valach lowered his B-cut time in the 500 freestyle by 1.90 seconds with a time-trial swim of 4:35.28. He also swam a B-cut in a 200-yard freestyle time trial, beating the cutoff by 0.01 seconds at 1:41.74.

The other B-cut for the Washington U. men came from junior Brendan Morin with a time of 50.20 in the 100-yard butterfly.

The Washington U. swimming teams will now wait for the official announcement of qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships to be made on March 9. The NCAA Championships will be held March 21-24 in Indianapolis, Ind.