Luke-Kennedy Thompson was superb in the pool with two individual victories to highlight Bahamian collegiate swimmers’ successes this past weekend in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) action.
Thompson, who swims for the Howard University Bison, picked up his victories in the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle events in NCAA Division I action. They were up against rival Mount St. Mary’s in a home duel at the Burr Pool in Washington, D.C.
Thompson swam his way up the Bison’s all-time rankings to sixth in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:09.66. Finishing second was his younger brother Mark-Anthony Thompson who was able to post a time of 10:20.32. Mount St. Mary’s Jonah Hancock clocked 10:50.41 for third place.
In the 500-yard free, Luke-Kennedy Thompson posted a time of 4:54.19 to come out victorious. Finishing second was Mount St. Mary’s Nicholas Santorelli with a time of 4:58.84. Thompson’s teammate Niles Rankin touched the wall in 5:09.60 for third.
Mark-Anthony Thompson picked up a victory later in the day in the 100-yard breaststroke. The 18-year-old recorded a time of 58.77 seconds. Placing second and third were a pair of Mount St. Mary’s swimmers – Griffin Distler and Jake Wallace respectively. Distler’s time was 59.91 seconds and Wallace’s time was 1:00.17.
The Thompson brothers’ younger sister Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson picked up two second-place finishes. They were in the girls 200-yard individual medley (IM) and the 500-yard free. In the 200-yard IM, the 17-year-old swam 2:15.81. Her teammate Michaela Spears was the winner in 2:14.50.
In the 500-yard free, Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson clocked 5:24.71 en route to her second-place finish. She was narrowly edged by Mount St. Mary’s Meghan Speicher who clocked 5:24.55. Picking up the third-place finish was Thompson’s teammate and fellow Bahamian Kaliyah Albury. She clocked 5:54.99.
Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson was able to help her 200-yard free relay team to a second-place finish after they clocked 1:43.56. Swimming on the ‘B’ team with her were Aaliyah Young, Tiffanee Moore and Madison Freeland. The Bison’s ‘A’ team won after posting a time of 1:41.10. Mount St. Mary’s placed third after clocking 1:43.79.
Albury also got a third-place finish in the girls 1,000-yard free after posting a time of 12:03.46.
Erald Thompson III picked up a second-place finish for the Bison in the boys 200-yard IM when he clocked 2:02.78. Winning that race was his teammate Miles Simon who posted a time of 1:57.68. Wallace placed third after touching the wall in 2:04.67.
The Bison will close out their regular season against the Catholic University Cardinals this Saturday. That dual meet will get underway at 1 p.m., and will take place at the DuFour Center Pool in Washington, DC.
Lamar Taylor was in action for the Henderson State Red Waves. He was able to swim away with a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.87 seconds. The NCAA Division II swimmer was able to take down a couple of NCAA DI swimmers in the process, and also set a new school record.
Placing second in that event was Southern Illinois University’s Adam Cernek who swam 51.07 seconds. Cernek’s teammate Alex Brodsky finished third with a time of 53.33 seconds.
Taylor was third in the 200-yard back when he touched the wall in 1:58.06. Cernek won that event in 1:52.10. Brodsky was second with a time of 1:56.23.
Sophomore Taylor was not done in the pool as he swam in two relay events – the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard medley relay. He anchored his 200-yard free relay team to a second-place finish in 1:24.87. Making up this team were Taylor, Patryk Dabrowski, Tim Holt and Jase Pinckney. Southern Illinois’ ‘A’ team won that race in a time of 1:23.09. Southern Illinois’ ‘B’ team was third after swimming 1:25.47.
In the 400-yard medley, Taylor got his team started on the first leg. They placed third overall as they posted a time of 3:29.93. He was joined by Oscar Patten, Pinckney and Holt. Southern Illinois’ ‘A’ team won that event when they touched the wall in 3:24.40. Southern Illinois’ ‘B’ team clocked 3:29.93 to place second.
Taylor and the Red Waves will close out the regular season with a matchup against Ouachita Baptist University on Friday. Action gets underway at 5 p.m. at the Waggoner Pool in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
Collegiate swimming continues this coming weekend at various venues around the United States.
