Flames swimmers leave Eastern Regional competition high and dry, win fourth straight title

A dominant performance by Liberty University's men's swimming team resulted in a fourth consecutive Eastern Regional Championship for the Flames, Saturday and Sunday at the Liberty Natatorium.

Liberty and its 1,107 total points left rivals Virginia (743) and Virginia Tech (282) in its collective wake. Other teams scoring points included Maryland (253.50), JMU (230), William & Mary (210.50), George Mason (121), Christopher Newport (74), Stony Brook (31), American (22), and George Washington (13).

Even without a women's club team, the Flames ranked second to UVA (1,757) out of 13 teams represented in the combined men's and women's team standings.

Max-Phillipps-Liberty-butterfly — Flames sophomore Max Phillipps competes in the butterfly.

Liberty won three of four relays and 11 of 17 individual events, including three by sophomore Dillon Delaney. Freshman Thomas Hill took 13 seconds off his seeded time to win the 500-yard freestyle in a program-record time of 4 minutes, 38.86 seconds.

"That was a great swim from him and he's got a lot left in the tank," said Flames Assistant Coach James Anderssen, who filled in for Head Coach Heath Grishaw in leading practices over the past two weeks after Grishaw's wife gave birth to their first child, a girl, on Oct. 30. "We had a number of individual champions and a number of best times from individuals, a number of really tight finishes, and a number of guys who swam races that we wouldn't have expected."

Anderssen noted that some team members swam 16-17 events over the two-day meet.

"It was brutal," he said. "It's a lot of racing and it is a lot of mental battles and repeat of having to give their very best without much rest. Lots of things were working against us and yet these guys showed incredible resilience and were able to show up and represent the team, the school, and each other very well. It was really a great way to cap off the semester."

He said swimming in the Liberty Natatorium gave the Flames a decided home-pool advantage.

"That definitely is something that (helped us)," Anderssen said. "We're familiar with the pool, familiar with the walls, familiar with the blocks, and it's a great facility."

Liberty had eight swimmers in the top 11 in the meet-opening 400-meter individual medley, led by the 2-3-4 finish from Hill (4:14.63), junior Tyler Suchyj (4:16.62), and freshman Byron Long (4:17.10).

Coaches-Heath-Grishaw-James-Anderssen — Head Coach Heath Grishaw and Assistant Coach James Anderssen get fired up.

Hill and sophomore co-captain Whittman Brown finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 200 freestyle, in which Liberty posted 10 of the top 13 times.

For Brown, that was the first of seven races he competed in along with the 200 medley relay, the 400 free relay, the 200 free relay, the 100 IM and 200 IM, and the 100 free.

"It was a lot of yards, but it was good," Brown said, noting that he swam nearly a mile (1,600 yards) between his preliminary heats and finals. "James (Anderssen) really stepped up and led the team equally well (as Grishaw) and a lot of us guys realized we needed to step up and fill leadership roles as well."

He said the coaching leadership has helped the team form a strong bond early in the season.

"Heath and James are working really well together, focusing on everybody's strengths," Brown said. "It's not really (divided between) distance and sprints anymore. We've been able to swim all together, but also swim specialized. All of us … are striving to work together, work hard, focus on making sure we have a great attitude and being excellent in the pool."

The Flames posted a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 free — spurred by freshman Connor Woods (21.04), sophomore Max Phillipps (21.32), and Delaney (21.59) — and the 50 butterfly, led by junior Jonah Rhodenizer (51.79), junior Trent Kolter (51.94), and freshman Aidan Walter (52.25).

Delaney won the 100 breaststroke in 56.41 and Suchyj placed third in 58.78 before Suchyj (2:11.26), Long (2:14.89), Hill (2:15.36), and freshman Trevor Urbanic (2:17.75) fueled a 2-3-4-5 Flames finish in the 200 breast.

Delaney also the finished first in the 100 IM in 51.56, followed by Brown (third in 54.33), Suchyj (fifth in 55.09), and Rhodenizer (seventh in 56.88).

Freshman Grant Shimer won the 200 backstroke in 1:57.79, followed by Long (second in 1:58.69) and freshman Thomas Grabinski (fifth in 2:05.71).

Kolter won the 100 back in 53.21, followed by senior Jonathan Tonnell (third in 54.15), Shimer (fourth in 54.53), and Woods (fifth in 55.02).

Liberty-freestyler-Eastern-Regionals — Sophomore Ben Bizeau swims the freestyle

Liberty won the 400 free relay in 3:08.17, sparked by Brown, Kolter, Delaney, and Phillipps.

The Flames had four of the top five finishers in the 1,000 free paced by Hill (first in 9:49.81), freshman Carter Rice (second in 9:57.71), and sophomore Benjamin Bizeau (fourth in 10:18.68).

In the 500 free, won by Hill in record-setting time, Brown (4:48.99), Walter (4:53.79), Long (4:53.99), and Rice (4:54.19) finished third through sixth, respectively.

Brown won the 100 free in 46.06 followed by the 3-4-5-6 showings of Kolter (47.62), Phillipps (47.85), Woods (47.62), and Rhodenizer (47.85).

The only relay the Flames didn't win was the 400 medley in which Shimer (back), Delaney (breast), Rhodenizer (fly), and Phillipps (free) finished second to UVA in 3:31.20.

In the 50 back, freshman Cole Dunne (second in 24.86) paced a 2-3-4-5 finish for the Flames, followed by Tonnell (25.03), sophomore James Blackstone (25.18), and Woods (25.60).
Delaney won his third individual race, the 50 breast, in 25.79, followed by freshmen Kierro Stubbs (fourth in 27.84) and Urbanic (sixth in 28.23).

The Flames swept the top six spots in the 200 fly on the wings of Walter (1:57.41), Wood (1:58.67), and junior Jonah Black (1:59.53). Rhodenizer placed third to lead the Flames in the 50 fly (23.85).

Long (1:58.32), Suchyj (1:58.48), Brown (1:58.95), Hill (1:59.85), and Delaney (2:00.69) touched the wall in the second through sixth spots in the 200 IM.

Whittman-Brown-dives — Sophomore captain Whittman Brown (center) starts the meet-ending 200 free relay.

Brown led off Liberty's meet-ending 200 free relay that won in 1:25.45, ahead of JMU (1:26.53) and UVA (1:26.96). He was followed by Woods, Delaney, and Phillips.

"Coming into this season … we put a lot of hard work and hours in the pool and it's been awesome," Brown said. "We've done really, really well so far."

"We definitely had a great showing," Anderssen added. "This is one of the deeper teams Coach Grishaw has ever had in terms of number of athletes in certain events. We were just pretty dominant within our region, so it's going to be interesting to see how that translates to (College Club Swimming) nationals," set for April 5-7 at Indiana University in Indianapolis.

Brown, who shares captaincy duties with junior Cody McQueen and sophomore Jeff Serle, believes the best is yet to come from this deep and talented team, which features only one senior and a handful of juniors.

"As captains, we can only do so much, so we just challenged the boys to step up, no matter what position they're in or year they are, just so that they can work hard and do their best," he said. "We're just starting to tap into our true potential and going into next semester, we're going to work even harder and put in a lot more hours and I think we're going to be even faster. Everyone has room that they can improve, so we're going to focus on the little things that we need to do and show up next semester."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Micah Adams/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant

Mens-swimming-celebration — The Flames celebrate their fourth consecutive Eastern Regional Championship on Sunday night at the Liberty Natatorium.

Flames swimmers leave Eastern Regional competition high and dry, win fourth straight title

Players Mentioned

Benjamin Bizeau

Jonah Black

Whittman Brown

Dillon Delaney

Cole Dunne

Thomas Grabinski

Thomas Hill

Trent Kolter

Byron Long

Cody McQueen

Jonah Rhodenizer

Carter Rice

Grant Shimer

Tyler Suchyj

Trevor Urbanic

Connor Woods

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