The Lindenwood swimming and diving teams competed at the Liberal Arts Championships at Principia College in Elsah, Ill., on Feb. 16-18. The men's team finished in first with 1,018 points while the women finished in second with 683 points.  
 
A number of swimmers recorded first place finishes on all three days as well as having four Lindenwood swimmers earn all-tournament team honors. For the men, Colin Sharpe earned best diver of the meet while Javier Hernandez was awarded best male swimmer. On the women's side, Michelle Bell was given best diver and Sarah Billiamosa was best female swimmer. Craig Penrose was named the Coach of the Meet.

Day Three Recap
On the third and final day of the Liberal Arts Tournament, Lindenwood continued its winning streak as the men recorded four first-place finishes. Uba Zavaleta placed first in the 1,650 yard freestyle while Ramunas Paknys recorded first for the 200 yard backstroke.
 
Arturs Plots and Trace Curvey were the top two seeds of the 200 yard backstroke along with Hernandez, Gilad Brunfman and Yannis Chader taking the top places in the 200 yard butterfly. Lastly, the Lions clinched five of the top six spots in the 100 yard freestyle.
 
On the women's side, the Lady Lions wrapped up the weekend with several first place finishes but took second overall behind Luther College. Kelsey Hutton finished first in the 1,650 yard freestyle and Briana Preiss and Stephanie Heutel recorded the second and third seeds for the 200 yard backstroke.
 
Ashlan Higgins also had a first place finish for the 100 yard freestyle while Storrie Cramer posted second in the 200 yard breaststroke with a 2:27 time. Sarah Billiamosa had a successful outing taking first in the 200 yard butterfly as well as the one meter dive. 

Day Two Recap
The men's team picked up right where they left off. Paknys took first in the 100 yard backstroke followed by Ivar Akmentins in a close second. In the 200 yard freestyle, Cody Friedhoff posted another first place finish while Victor Munoz finished in second.
 
Zavaleta and Ivan Potkonjak finished in the top two of the 400 yard individual medley while Hernandez and Brunfman were at the top of the 100 yard butterfly.
 
However the Lions recorded the top four spots in the 100 yard breaststroke where Reinis Rozensteins recorded first, Plots finishing second white Trace Curvey and Ryan Chaney were number three and four.
 
Sarah Billiamosa was the lone Lady Lion who placed first in the 400 yard individual medley. Several swimmers placed second throughout the day with Ashlan Higgins in the 100 yard butterfly and Storrie Cramer in the 100 yard breaststroke.

It was another successful day for the diving team as Michelle Bell won her one meter competition and broke the school, meet and pool record for the 11-dive.
 
The Lady Lions also captured the top four positions in the 100 yard backstroke with Stephan Heutel in second, Briana Preiss in third and Therese Klockare recording fourth. Ashlan Higgins placed third in the 200 yard freestyle, respectively.

Day One Recap
The men had a good showing to start the tournament where they had at least one swimmer in the top three in every A-level event. Cody Friedhoff led the way finishing first in the 500 yard freestyle with a time in a time of 4:39. Friedhoff was followed by Munoz in second and Yannis Chader in third. During the 200 yard individual medley, seven-of-the-eight positions belonged to the Lions.
 
Placing in the top two were Hernandez and Paknys followed by Plots in fourth, Potkonjak in fifth and Matthew Friedhoff in sixth. Brunfman and Chaney wrapped up the final spots. The 50 yard freestyle also was in the Lions favor as Diego Banda and IvaAkmentins finished in the top three followed by Reinis Rozensteins with a fifth place finish.
 
On the women's side, the Lady Lions also had multiple swimmers finish in the top categories of the A-level. During the 500 yard freestyle, Kelsey Hutton placed second followed by Kay Rosenhauer finishing in 5:16. Sarah Billiamosa recorded a first-place finish in the 200 yard individual medley in 2:07 while Ashlan Higgins placed third in the 50 yard freestyle.

Sharpe won the one meter, breaking the school's 11-dive meet record while Stewart finished fourth. In the 200 yard freestyle style, Lindenwood was successful recording the top spots in the event. The Lions posted a first-place finish in both the 200 and the 400 yard medley relay while the women's team finished in second behind Luther. Michelle Bell won the three meter, respectively.
 
The men's and women's swimming and diving team will dive back into action March 1-4 as they travel to Jenks, Oklahoma for the USA Region 8 Sectionals. Preliminaries start at 9 a.m. and the finals conclude at 5:30 p.m.