Chaney, Veon lead No. 39 Women's Swimming & Diving to third place finish at Calvin (Mich.) Winter Invitational

By Tim Glon

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Freshman Lauren Chaney and sophomore Sydney Veon each won events to lead the No. 39-ranked Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team to a third place finish at the Calvin (Mich.) Winter Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Venema Aquatic Center.

No. 26-ranked Calvin (Mich.) won the team title with 1123 points, No. 35 Albion (Mich.) was second with 882.5 points, Ohio Northern was third with 760 points and Carthage (Wis.) was fourth with 699.5 points.

Chaney had three top-4 finished on the weekend. She won the 200 breast in 2:35.93, was third in the 100 fly in 1:04.13 and was fourth in the 200 I.M. in 2:20.07.

Veon won the 100 breast in 1:08.93.

The  team of senior Allison Lohnes, Veon, freshman Alyson Rohrer and junior Jill Chapman won the 400 medley relay in 4:07.63 and were second in the 200 medley relay in 1:51.64.

"We raced some great Division III teams that really challenged us and will ultimately help us become better prepared for races further into the season," ONU head coach Peggy Ewald said. "I'm happy we were able to step out of our comfort zone to gain more experience. Every step, small or large is a step in the progression of the season.

"In the past this invite was held in mid January. It proved much more effective to move it to early November  giving us an opportunity to race a championships lineup early before the mid season big invite and travel north before the cold and snow become travel concerns. Calvin's facilities are amazing. We relish the opportunity to race in such grand venues. We have many areas to improve, the meet gave us a clear picture what has to be done next. Now we need to do the work to take another rung up the ladder."

Four other Polar Bears had top four finishes in individual swims.

Lohnes and Chapman each posted a pair of second place finishes.

Lohnes was second in the 100 back in 1:00.48 and was second in the 200 back in 2:11.93, while Chapman was second in the 50 free in :24.41 and was second in the 100 free in :54.95.

Freshman Kierra Watson was second in the 400 I.M. in 5:01.25 and junior Molly Wheeler was third in the 200 breast in 2:37.57.

The Polar Bears will return to action Friday at Wittenberg.