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CANTON, OHIO -- Senior Kate Aherne (Cary, Ill; Cary-Grove) added two more all-American awards in her final races as a Bulldog, joining up with fellow senior Kendra Brunkow (Firth, Neb.; Norris-Beatrice), junior Tanya Sylvester (Rochester, Minn; Century) and sophomore Jessica Jenkot (Orland Park, Ill.; Carl Sandburg) to place seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:28.71). Aherne had to work hard to even reach the final of her other placement, the 100-yard freestyle, as she was tied for the eighth and final spot in the ‘A’-final following the preliminaries.

After slipping through in a swim-off, Aherne cranked it up in the finals, pushing herself into third place with a time of 50.43.

Also picking up all-American honors in the 100-yard freestyle was Brunkow, who came in 12^th (51.86) and bested her qualifying time by more than a full second.

Two other Truman swimmers finished in the top-ten of their respective events, as junior Julia Jones (Daphne, Ala.; Daphne) placed 7^th in the 1650-yard freestyle (17:21.78) , and freshman Jerod Simek (O’Fallon, Mo.; Fort Zumwalt West HS) took 9^th in the men’s version of the 1650-free (15:46.94).

A quartet of ’Dogs came in on both sides of the 16^th-place cutoff for all-American status, as freshman Stacey Wymer (New Lenox, Ill.; Lincoln-Way Central HS) posted a time of 2:04.09 en route to a 13^th-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, and junior Emily Buss (O’Fallon, Mo.; Lafayette) picked up a 16^th-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:23.87). However, junior Claire Myers (Ellisville, Mo.; Lafayette) (17:40.29) and freshman Allison Harding (West Des Moines, Iowa; Valley) (17:42.61) came up just short with 17^th- and 19^th-place finishes respectively in the 1650 freestyle.

Jenkot (56^th; 100 freestyle), along with freshman Taylor Birsa (Joliet, Ill.; Joliet West) (24^th; 200 breaststroke) and junior Anna Grinter (Manhattan, Kan.; Manhattan) (36^th; 200 backstroke), also competed for Truman but did not qualify for the finals.

The Bulldog women finished the Championships with a team-score of 251 points – good for fifth place. Drury (Mo.) University captured the title for the second straight season with 657 points, followed by Wayne (Neb.) State (531), California-San Diego (318) and West Chester (Pa.) (313.5).

Simek earned nine points on the men’s side, which gave the Truman team a 23^rd-place finish. Drury also won the men’s title, holding off Incarnate Word (Texas) by 135 points.

(Courtesy Truman State Athletic Department)