Over the next few days, the DePauw University Tigers will have 13 athletes represent them in the 2014 Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
There will be eight Tigers competing at the men's championship, while the women will be represented by a group of five. The numbers are reflected by the two team's regular seasons, as the men went 6-2 and the women went 4-3 for this past season.
The men's season reached its peak in late January, winning three straight meets in a matter of eight days. On Jan. 18th, the Tigers beat Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 159-137. They followed up that performance with a 195-65 win at the Erdmann Natatorium against Illinois Wesleyan University. The following week, the Tigers put up a 220-40 routing of Illinois Institute of Technology at the University of Chicago.
Blake Lehmann, a sophomore from Champaign, Ill., won two events at the Illinois Wesleyan meet- the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-freestyle. Lehmann will be one of the eight competing at the NCAA Men's Championship.
Seniors Jack Burgeson (Saint Louis Park, Minn.) and Matt Gleason (New Albany, Ohio), juniors Alex Alfonso (New Albany, Ohio), Matt Haeske (Western Springs, Ill.) and Casey Hooker (Rensselaer, Ind.) and sophomores Stephen McMurtry (Fort Wright, Ky.) and Alex Grissom (Franklin, Ind.) will also be competing.
All swimmers, beside Haeske, are slated to begin competition tomorrow. The 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle, which are all events to be raced tomorrow, each feature at least two Tigers.
In the 500 freestyle, Hooker, Grissom and McMurtry are all slated to compete, with Hooker seeded 17th in the event. Though the program has finished the NCAA Championships in the top 13 in four of the past six years, the Tigers are ranked at 14th in the latest coaches' poll.
DePauw is ranked a number below the University of Washington in St. Louis, with the University of Chicago and Stevens Institute of Technology tied for the 11th place ranking. Beside the individual meets, the team will be competing in the 200 and 400 medley relay, along with the 800 and 400 freestyle relay later in the week.
The Tigers are paying special attention to the 400 freestyle relay, an event that they are seeded fourth in. It is the highest seed DePauw men will have at this year's national championship. As for the overall 14th place ranking, however, the team says they wont pay it any mind.
"In terms of ranking, we try not to take them too seriously," Hooker said. "We prefer to fly under the radar until it is time to swim and surprise everyone when we are there."
Hooker said the most important thing is what the team expects of themselves: top eight finishes in their team relays, and more importantly, a top 10 finish in the NCAA Championship. As long as the team performs well in their prelims, Hooker said, there is no reason their expectations can't be met.
The women Tigers will also try their fate on the big stage starting tomorrow, with five of their most consistent athletes representing them at the National Championship. Freshman star Angela Newlon (O'Fallon, Ill.) is expected to win the 500 freestyle event tomorrow, after being seeded first after recording a 4:50.91 time at the NCAC Championships.
In her first year with the Tigers, Newlon notched several "B" cuts, won NCAC Swimmer of the Week in late November and broke DePauw's 500-yard freestyle record two times. Although expectations may be high for Newlon, she is cognizant of the danger pressure can bring.
"There's definitely many emotions I'm feeling that can be a bit overwhelming," Newlon said. "I do feel like there is additional pressure going into the meet, but my coach told me to swim for myself and not worry about how other swimmers from different teams might perform."
Newlon is more confident than anything else going into her first National meet.
"We've been working extremely hard these past four weeks after conference," Newlon said. "We've been looking strong at practice, so there is a very good chance of us having new school records, best times and placing higher than we did last year."
Along with Newlon, junior Emily Weber (Winfield, Ill.), sophomores Erin Horne (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Caroline Bridges (Mequon, Wis.) and freshman Kirsten Olson (Albuquerque, N.M) will all compete in the National Championship.
For the three upperclassmen, they are not in uncommon territory- Weber, Horne and Bridges competed in last year's NCAA Division III Championships in Shenandoah, Texas.
Bridges was in Newlon's position last year, being the only Tiger freshman to compete in the Championships. Bridges held her own to say the least, breaking the school record for the 100 free prelims at 51.34 seconds.
For Bridges, who finished 13th last year in both the 400 and 800 free relays, this year's closer Indianapolis location may be of benefit to the Tigers swimmers.
"There is definitely some feeling of a home field advantage," Bridges said. "Last week we were able to go to the pool and have a full practice there, allowing us to get used to the starting blocks and the walls."
Bridges hopes this will mean more people will come out to see them compete.
"I know that quite a few of our team members will be coming to support us, as well as friends and alumni," Bridges said. "It'll be great to be able to take advantage of the meet's proximity to DePauw and have the support of not only our team, but the school as well."
Bridges has had her fair share of success this season as well, including North Coast Athletic Conference player of the week award late in January. This week, Bridges will individually be competing in the 200 and 100 freestyles, along with the team races as well.
Weber will lead the team into the Championships with the most experience. In her three years, Weber has had three coaches and succeeded under each. The younger swimmers will be sure to look to her to calm their pre-meet nervousness.
As for Newlon and Olson, the two freshmen in their first national championship, Bridges is confident they will perform well.
"I'm pretty sure both of them are more confident and prepared than I was at this time last year," Bridges said. "As long as they keep doing what they have been doing all season and remain confident in their training, I have no doubt that they will earn the results they deserve."
The NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships will begin tomorrow and end Saturday. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m. every day, and finals are set to take place at 6 p.m. The Championship can be followed on the NCAA website, along with the various DePauw media outlets.