Flames swimmers pull away from Eastern Regional competition at Maryland

Saturday, October 26

College Park, MD

TBD

Liberty University Club Sports

Eastern Regionals

Liberty's men's swimming team captured its fifth consecutive Eastern Regional championship Saturday and Sunday at the University of Maryland. (Photos by Katelyn Foelsch)

Flames swimmers pull away from Eastern Regional competition at Maryland

10/29/2024 11:10:00 AM | Men's Swimming

Liberty won multiple individual events and three out of four relays to leave Virginia, Maryland, and 20 other teams in their wakes.

Men's backstroke start at Eastern Regionals — Drew Baxter, Matthew Davidson, and Chaz Schuijt take off from the starting blocks in the 100 backstroke.

Buoyed by senior Jonah Rhodenizer's four blue ribbons in individual events and gold medals in three of four relays, Liberty University's men's swim team captured its fifth consecutive Eastern Regional championship on Saturday and Sunday at the University of Maryland's Eppley Natatorium in College Park, Md.

The Flames prevailed with 1,232.5 points to finish well ahead of the second-place University of Virginia (566.6) and third-place Maryland (371.5) in a pool of 22 teams from Virginia up to Maine.

In the combined men's and women's standings, the Flames finished second behind only UVA (1,358) and ahead of the host Terrapins (third, 800.5).

"We swam really well, and a lot of guys got their national cuts this weekend, which was awesome," Flames Head Coach Heath Grishaw said. "We actually trained through this meet, rather than tapering for it as in years past, because of how early it was in the season, and the guys did so well. They really swam up to our standards."

He said he and Assistant Coaches James Anderssen and Jordan Stackpole have raised the bar for the team in early season practices and they have responded tremendously.

"We try to establish a standard, an expectation, and then, when those guys know it, I can just coach and have fun," Grishaw said. "Then they can get on the pool deck and just roll."

He said the atmosphere for this weekend's two-day meet was one he would love to see when the two-time College Club Swimming national swimmers-up compete in the March 28-30 CCS National Championships at the Skyline Aquatic Center in Mesa, Ariz.

"Everyone was smiling, the energy was great, everybody was fired up," Grishaw said, noting that 28 of the 29 swimmers who traveled to Maryland scored. "It was awesome all-around. This team is so close already, I am excited for what the future holds."

Jonah-Rhodenizer-Liberty-butterfly — Senior Jonah Rhodenizer won the 50-yard butterfly in 22.93 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 51.07 as well as the 50 freestyle and 100 IM.

Rhodenizer won the 50-yard freestyle in 20.92 seconds, followed by graduate Matthew Davidson (second in 21.13); the 50 fly in 22.93, followed by senior captain Trent Kolter (second in 23.22); the 100 butterfly in 51.07, followed by freshman Xander Williams (third in 52.80); and the 100 Individual Medley in 52.36), followed by junior Dillon Delaney (second in 52.57) and freshman Malachi Caballero (third in 53.70). He also swam a leg of the Flames' 200 free relay that won in 1:25.67, following an opening lap by junior co-captain Whittman Brown and before the third leg by Kolter and anchor lap by Davidson.

"Jonah had a fantastic meet," Grishaw said. "This probably was one of his best meets with this program. He is really putting it all together his senior year."

Liberty also won the 400 free relay, featuring Brown, Delaney, Kolter, and Davidson, in 3:08.97 and the 400 medley relay with Davidson (backstroke), Delaney (breaststroke), Williams (fly), and Brown (free) in 3:27.33, and placed second in the 200 medley relay in 1:34.12.

Caballero placed second in the 200 breast in a new team record time of 2:07.78, breaking graduate Carter Helsby's time of 2:09.53 set in 2021.

"His lifetime best coming in was two and a half seconds faster (than Helsby's) and sure enough, he came out swinging and got it," Grishaw said.

Delaney won the 100 breast in 57.54 followed by Caballero (second in 58.06) while Davidson won 50 back in 23.40 followed by freshman Chaz Schuijt (second in 24.19) and sophomore Drew Baxter (third in 24.29).

Davidson also won the 100 free in 46.41, followed closely by Brown (second in 46.46).

Freshman Jonah Rees won the 400 IM in 4:11.82 with sophomores Byron Long (4:12.01) and Thomas Hill (4:13.55) completing a podium sweep.

Carter Rice Liberty freestyle — Carter Rice placed second to fellow sophomore Thomas Hill in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events at Maryland.

Hill paced a first-through-fifth-place showing in the 500 free in 4:44.75 followed by sophomore Carter Rice (4:48.78) and Brown (4:52.50) and a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1,000 free in 9:53.18, followed by Rice (9:55.37) and freshman Grant Ruble (10:11.39).

Rees also won the 200 back in 1:56.10, placed second in the 100 back in 52.24, and third in the 200 IM in 1:56.87. Brown came in second in the 200 free in 1:42.74 and Williams took second in the 200 fly in 1:56.42 followed by senior Jonah Black (third in 1:58.81).

Junior Max Phillipps, one of the Flames' fastest freestylers, was one of four from last year's national team that did not travel to Maryland due to injuries or prior commitments.

Grishaw said having Davidson and Helsby back after a year break to swim while pursuing their masters' degrees has given the team a huge boost.

"They are two former captains with huge amounts of experience, two guys that love the program so much that they asked their wives if they could go to graduate school and come back and swim," he said. "They enjoyed their season of being retired, but missed it that much and felt like the opportunities presented themselves to join this great team that has been assembled. From the top down, there are so many talented swimmers in the water this year."

The Flames have three weeks to prepare for a meet hosted by North Carolina State University on Nov. 16-17 before tapering their workouts for the Nov. 22-24 TYR Invite at the Liberty Natatorium. For that meet, they will be swimming against themselves while the Lady Flames' NCAA Division I team will compete simultaneously against other women's programs.

"The NC State meet will be a prep meet for us," Grishaw said, noting that he won't send his entire lineup to Raleigh, N.C. "It will give a chance for guys that might have missed regionals a chance to get a meet under their belt before they swim in the intrasquad TYR meet."

Dillon Delaney breaststroke — Dillon Delaney won the 100 breaststroke in 57.54, placed second in the 100 IM and swam on the winning 400 free and 400 medley relays.

"We will be putting a lot of pressure on our guys for that meet, which is something they will have to do internally without other teams competing with them," he added, noting that the TYR Invite is right before Thanksgiving Break and then, after final exams, students will go home for Christmas Break. "It's going to be a big indicator for us as to who will make the travel team to go to nationals in March."

That will be the first time CCS nationals have been held out West after previously being hosted by Georgia Tech, Ohio State, and the University of Indiana in Indianapolis last year.

"This team wants nationals," Grishaw said. "Everybody's excited. We'll have a couple meets in the spring, including a meet at UVA the last weekend in February, and then we will fly out to Arizona that last Tuesday in March. The big thing is trying to figure out how to train and travel and make sure we stay on it. It's not about how many swimmers we bring but how many score and how high they score."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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