Liberty University Club Sports
CCS National Championship Meet
Relays buoy men’s swimmers to program-best second-place showing at CCS Nationals
4/2/2023 11:23:00 PM | Men's Swimming
In only its sixth season of competition, Liberty University's men's swimming team improved on its record-high fifth-place showing from last year's College Club Swimming (CCS) National Championships, finishing second out of 128 programs on Friday through Sunday at Ohio State University's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
"We're really happy with what happened," Flames fourth-year Head Coach Heath Grishaw said. "Absolutely, there have been a lot of highs and lows from injuries to other team stuff we had to go through this year and the guys battled through the adversity and came out on the other side. Finishing in second place is a testimony to all of the hard work these guys put in."
Liberty's 25 swimmers scored in all but one event, the 50-yard butterfly, and set two team and CCS Championships records in winning the 800 freestyle relay in 6 minutes, 42.74 seconds and 400 medley relay in 3:19.23. The Flames totaled 577 points to finish swimmer-up to defending national champion Purdue (899.5), ahead of Michigan State (530.5), Georgia Tech (452), and Virginia (406), which rounded out the top five.
"We did really well and definitely accumulated a lot of points off our relays this year, winning two in record times and finishing third in our next two, the 200 medley (1:29.87) and 400 free relay (3:03.57)," Grishaw said, noting that Liberty's 200 free relay only missed the podium by one spot, landing in fourth in 1:23.75.
Swimming on his 21st birthday, Flames senior Matt Davidson swam the first leg of both of the record-setting relays and also defended his national title in the 100 backstroke, winning in 48.76.
"Today's Matt Davidson's birthday, but it was also his last race ever, so it was bittersweet," Grishaw said.
Davidson set the pace in Friday's meet-opening 800 free relay with a 200-split time of 50.74, followed by freshman Dillon Delaney (52.32), sophomore Trent Kolter (54.50), and freshman Whittman Brown (53.02). In the 400 IM, he completed his 100 back stretch in 48.55 before Delaney swam the breast in 54.69, Kolter finished the fly in 50.78 and freshman Maximus Phillipps clocked a time of 45.21 in the free.
Davidson also swam to a second-place showing in the 50 back in 22.97 (0.09 behind Georgia Tech's Louis Cardot) and a third-place finish in the 50 free in 20.60 before capping his career by placing fifth in the 100 free in 45.87.
Delaney also placed second in the 50 breast in 25.38, fourth in the 100 IM in 51.23, fifth in the 100 breast in 56.37 after qualifying first in 55.26, and 10th in the 200 IM in 1:56.49.
Brown also finished second in the 200 free in 1:40.69, one-hundredth of a second behind UVA's Emmett Hannam, and eighth in the 500 free in 4:45.28 and Kolter also placed ninth in the 200 butterfly in 1:58.47
Sophomore Tyler Suchyj finished sixth in the 400 IM in 4:15.61 and 11th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.99.
"Friday night was spectacular with so many different swimmers scoring," Grishaw said, noting all five of the Flames' 1,000 free finalists placed in the top 20.
Sophomore Colin Wood paced the Flames in the 1,000, finishing eighth in 9:56.75, followed by freshmen Jonah Rhodenizer (10th in 10:01.64) and Benjamin Bizeau (13th in 10:10.91), senior Zach Mallory (16th in 10:24.29), and sophomore Carson Chesnut (19th in 10:26.38).
"It was a great team effort, and we are thankful for the opportunity and I am proud of the boys and the way they responded," Grishaw said. "I'm also thankful for (Assistant Coach) Ben Klipp, who is in his sixth year with the program as well, four as a swimmer and two as a coach."
Complete results are available online. Next year's CCS National Championships will be held at Indiana University.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Players Mentioned
