Jayhawks claim crown at fifth Kansas Classic
Team Scores
1. Kansas, 1,060
2. North Texas, 769.5
3. Iowa State, 603
4. Northern Iowa, 502
5. Little Rock, 266
6. Omaha, 264.5
Most Valuable Swimmer
Katie Taylor, Northern Iowa
All-Invite Team
Mary Kate Luddy, Iowa State
Haley Ruegemer, Iowa State
Haley Downey, Kansas
Jenny Nusbaum, Kansas
Tori Fryar, Little Rock
Nuria Gallego Murcia, Little Rock
Leigh Faires McGee, North Texas
Sarah Vaisse, North Texas
Crystal Florman, Northern Iowa
Katie Taylor, Northern Iowa
NaeNae Hadford, Omaha
Becca Martini, Omaha
TOPEKA, Kan. – Five of the top-10 individual scorers don the Crimson and Blue, as the Kansas swimming and diving team took home the crown Sunday afternoon at the fifth-annual Kansas Classic hosted inside the Capitol Federal Natatorium at the Hummer Sports Park in Topeka, Kansas.
As a team, the Jayhawks led wire-to-wire accounting for 30.6 percent (1,060) of the possible 3,465 points that were scored, finishing in first by 290.5 points. North Texas finished as the runner-up with 769.5 points, while Iowa State rounded out the top-three with 603 points.
“It’s the midterm, and I think we earned an ‘A’ by far,” head coach Clark Campbell said. “This capped off our fall period and sends us into winter training with a lot of confidence. We are right where we need to be. It was a god way to end the fall, and now we are getting ready for the fun time of our season.”
Twelve swimmers were named to the Kansas Classic All-Invite Team, and sophomores Jenny Nusbaum and Haley Downey earned that recognition as the Jayhawks top-two individual point scorers. Nusbaum scored a total of 71 points, while Downey swam for 64.
Outside of those two, sophomore Elizabeth Amato-Hanner (63), freshman Manon Manning (59) and junior Haley Bishop (48) finished inside the top-10 for individual point scorers, placing fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively.
“We have a lot of depth and competed really well this weekend,” Campbell said. “We are well-rounded and have a lot of different pieces we can put in to place. Now it is time to get back to work and focus on our championship season.”
Before focusing on that championship season, the Jayhawks had one final session to swim of the Kansas Classic. That afternoon finals session began with the 1,650-yard freestyle where Kansas had a one-two-three finish. Senior Nika Fellows took third with a time of 17:06.63, freshman Crissie Blomquist earned the silver with a time of 16:55.20 and Nusbaum won with a time of 16:49.52.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Manning, Amato-Hanner, freshman Lauryn Parrish and senior Madison Straight finished second through fifth in that order with Manning’s top-time of 1:59.17 leading the way.
Downey followed suit in the 200-yard breaststroke to earn second with a time of 2:15.96. Senior Lydia Pocisk swam a fifth-place time of 2:20.31 while freshman Aley Shimel took eighth in 2:24.37.
Those performances carried over into the 200-yard butterfly where Kansas took five of the top-six spots, including a one-two finish by Bishop and freshman Ellie Flanagan. Bishop swam a winning time of 2:00.69, while Flanagan finished in 2:02.13.
“I thought our 200-yard events were really good,” Campbell said. “They were all really solid. Our swimmers have been doing anything from 10-14 races this weekend, so the energy tank was a little low today. It was a really good meet and I am very happy with how we finished. This whole weekend showed that we are doing the right type of things, and that is all you can ask for.”
The Jayhawks will take the next couple of weeks off from competition, before returning to Robinson Natatorium on Dec. 1, for their annual Crimson and Blue intrasquad meet.
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