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BCC men 7th, women 11th in NJCAA during inaugural season
spt mm Swim team at Nationals 002

It was a pretty good start to the swimming program at Barton Community College.
The initial season came to a close Saturday night in Florida at the NJCAA Championships. The first season came to an end with the men taking 7th in the nation and the women 11th. Indian Rivers ran away with both the men’s and women’s title.
The Cougar men finished with eight medalists individually and had four more relays finish in the top eight. The Barton women added two medals among the four swimmers on the team.
“I am over the moon with this meet,” Coach Jonathan Reeder said. “This is a one of a kind team. They make me thankful to have them and excited for what the future brings. The future is bright because of the team that come together this year. I am so proud.”
Dawson Gantenbein and Keagan Wilson both finished the meet with three medals. Sean Williams and William Spitz both earned a medal. Reagan Smyth came home with both women’s medals.
Gantenbein earned the highest finish for Barton at the meet, taking fourth in the 50 backstroke in a time of 24.81. He also finished eighth in both the 100 backstroke and the 50 butterfly. He swam a 54.89 in the 100 back and a 24.32 in the 50 fly. Gantenbein just missed a fourth medal with a 10th place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:00.71.
Wilson finished fifth in two events and seventh in another. Wilson was fifth in the 100 butterfly in 52.09 and fifth in the 200 butterfly in 1:56.22. He also took seventh in the 50 freestyle in 21.62.
Spitz medaled for Barton by taking eighth in the 100 freestyle in 48.48. He was just outside the top eight in the 50 freestyle, 50 butterfly and 100 individual medley. Spitz took 10th in the freestyle in 21.63, 10th in the fly in 24.73 and 11th in the IM in 57.41.
Barton’s other medal came from Williams in the 50 breast stroke with a time of 24.74. Williams took 12th in the 100 breast stroke in 1:02.85 and 14th in the 400 individual medley in 4:38.92.
Noah Childs just missed a medal in the 50 back stroke, taking ninth in 25.82. Childs finished 15th in the 100 back (55.42) and 16th in the 200 back (2:12.16). Childs was 22nd in the 50 free.
Phane Pedigo swam his way to three B finals with his highest place coming in the 1650 free on the final day with a 10th place effort in 18:24.12. He also took 12th in the 50 back (26.67) and 16th in the 500 free (5:10.93). Pedigo was 20th in the 1000 free.
Corey Harbaugh took 16th in the 200 free (2:03.78). He took 21st in the 500 free and 23rd in the 50 free. Elijah Draper finished 14th in the 100 IM in 1:02.43 and 16th in the 50 breast stroke in 23.55. He also took 17th in both the 50 free and 100 free. Austin Levingston took 36th in the 50 free.
The top relay team for Barton came in the 200 freestyle. Spitz, Draper, Gantenbein and Wilson finished third in 1:30.28. In the final event of the meet, Barton took fourth in the 400 freestyle. Spitz, Harbaugh, Gantenbein, and Wilson combined for a 3:14.04 for that fourth place finish.
The 200 medley team of Gantenbein (back), Williams (breast), Wilson (fly) and Spitz (free) finished fourth in 1:37.62. The same quartet combined to take sixth in the 400 medley relay.
The 800 freestyle relay team of Pedigo, Draper, Harbaugh and Williams was seventh in 7:32.28.
The women were led by Smyth’s two medals. Smyth finished seventh in the 50 butterfly in 27.47 and eighth in the 100 freestyle in 58.06. She swam in the B finals of the 100 fly and 50 free, taking 11th and 13th.
Kayla Hennan just missed the medal stand by taking 11th in the 100 breast (1:14.91), 14th in the 50 breast (34.56) and 15th in the 200 breast (2:48.50).
Sydney Williams made the B finals twice, taking 16th in both the 1000 free (12:22.32) and the 1650 free (21:21.03). Williams took 17th in the 200 free and 19th in the 500 free.
Mercedes Mahakijkittichai finished 18th in the 200 back, 21st in the 100 back, 22nd in the 50 back and 29th in the 50 free.
That quartet of women swam in the four relays for Barton. The highest finish came in the 400 medley where Barton took ninth. The Cougars were 10th in both the 200 medley and 800 free and 11th in the 400 free.

NJCAA Swim Championships
Men Team Scores
Indian River 1245, South Georgia St. 561.5, Monroe 450, Southwestern Oregon 411.5, Iowa Central 341, Lincoln 340.5, Barton 313.5, Genesee 297, Erie 165, Iowa Lakes 98, Herkimer 62

Women Team Scores
Indian River 1181, South Georgia St. 591, Iowa Central 379, Southwestern Oregon 377, Lincoln 372, Iowa Lakes 370, Fashion Institute of Technology 256, Monroe 241, Erie 231, Genesee 143, Barton 105, Herkimer 28, Jamestown 23.