Sollom-Brotherton Records Highest Whitman Finish at NCAA's
SHENANDOAH, Tex. – Day 1 of the Division III Swimming National Championships at the Conroe Natatorium saw Whitman junior Galen Sollom Brotherton (Dublin, CA) post the highest finish at nationals for a Missionary swimmer in program history when he finished 2nd in the 500 freestyle, setting a new school record with a time of 4:27.47 -more than a second-and-a-half faster than his morning preliminary time.
Galen Sollom-Brotherton
The victory gives the Whitman men 17 points in the overall scoring and earns Sollom-Brotherton All-American honors. Allen Weik of Denison won the race, touching the wall at 4:23.99.
“All of us here, team, coaches, and parents are elated!” said Coach Jenn Blomme of Sollom-Brotherton’s performance. “If you were to look up ‘How to close a race’ in the dictionary, it should say, ‘See Galen’s final length of the 500 at the NCAA’s.’ He showed some powerful determination at the end of a hard race against the fastest swimmers in the country. It was just Awesome!”
To qualify for tonight’s finals Sollom-Brotherton finished 6th in the morning preliminaries with a new school record of 4:29.08 that would only last one race. Both times were faster than Sollom-Brotherton’s NCAA Championships mark of last year (4:30.38) when he finished 10th overall.
Galen and Coach Blomme at NCAA's
One other note on Sollom-Brotherton’s winning time. It beat his personal best in the 500 free of 4:28.66 which he set as junior in high school.
Day 1 also say Whitman’s Claire Collins (Jr., Burlingame, CA) swim in the 200 IM where she clocked in at 2:11.41 in the prelims, good for 38th. Collins qualified for the Championships in the 100 breaststroke which she will swim Friday morning.
The third member of the Whitman contingent, Karl Mering (So., Boise, ID), did not swim today. He will get his first crack at the pool tomorrow in the 100 butterfly, a race in which he recorded the third fastest time this season (48.59), setting a new school, conference and Northwest Conference Championships record. Mering’s mark was .50 behind the fastest 100 fly this season set by Amherst’s Samuel Stewart who will also be competing tomorrow.
For live video coverage of the Championships click http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule
For full results of each race click http://collegeswimming.us/results/21478/
Whitman assistant coach Chris Bendix is also tweeting results as they happen @WhitmanSwimming and also posting them on the Whitman Swimming Facebook page: www.facebook.com/whitmancollegeswimming
* This story originally stated that Sollom-Brotherton's win earned him Whitman's first All-American honors. Sollom-Brotherton actually earned All-American honors last season.
Contact:
Andrew Holt
Whitman Sports Information Director
509.527.5902
345 Boyer Ave.