ROCHESTER — Jamestown Community College put on a master class in the pool at the Region 3 championships, with the women taking first and the men third. The combined scores of the women (649) and men (404.5) were the most of any school at the three days of events hosted by Monroe CC.

Day three of the championships started like the other two, with one of the Jayhawk ladies capturing a first-place finish. This time it was Paiden Wittmeyer winning the 50-yard butterfly by more than 8 seconds. Switching to the long-distance swim, Ella Fosberg earned gold in the 1,650-yard freestyle, taking first by more than 40 seconds. Teammate Anna Jones brought home third in the event. Lindsey Spitz capped a perfect weekend with a win in the 200-yard breaststroke. The sophomore was followed by Hayley Dawson in second and Stacey Blackler in third. Spitz went four for four in individual events for the regionals. In the 100-yard freestyle, the Jayhawks claimed fifth and sixth, with Shalynn Owens and Ashlynn Swan taking those spots, respectively. Madison Kramer kept up her dominating ways in the 200-yard backstroke by setting a new regional record in her win, with a time of 2:11:32. Looking at the relays, Jamestown’s group of Kramer, Wittmeyer, Dawson and Jones locked up yet another top spot on the podium. That finished an unblemished weekend for Kramer, who earned Female Swimmer of the Meet in the process. Jumping into the diving waters, Swan set a new Jamestown CC record in the 11-dive 3 meters with a score of 192.15.

JCC head coach Todd Conklin was named the Women’s Coach of the Year thanks to the women winning the team title by 319 points, almost doubling up second place.

On the men’s side, Maxim Johnson went four for four in his individual events, finishing his competition with a regional record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 23.76. The record-setting performance and winning all his events led to Johnson earning the Male Swimmer of the Meet honors. In the 100-yard freestyle, the Jayhawks claimed second from Lukas Baer and fourth from Rinat Kalimullin. The 200-yard backstroke saw Colton Schuman bring home a fourth-place finish. Brady Lindstrom also had a perfect individual performance, going four for four. His final event was a win in the 200-yard breaststroke. Toby Gifford grabbed a fifth in the event, and Randall Hall eighth.

This was one of the best three-day stretches in Jamestown CC swimming and diving history.

“It’s hard to put into words all the accomplishments this team did this weekend,” Conklin said. “So many school records, regional records, and even a pool record at Monroe. I’ve been coaching now for 26 years, and to see the success that this team has brought is overwhelming. The excitement, the energy, and the positive feedback for each other has been tremendous. The coaching staff is so excited about this upcoming national meet. I truly want to thank Claire Johnson, diving coach, Emily Spitz, assistant coach and coach, and Bill Rollinger, assistant coach, for all that they do as well for our JCC program. I’m super proud of this last weekend, but I’m more excited personally for what this national meet is going to be. I have a feeling that this is going to be an epic national championship.”

Next up for the Jayhawks swimming and diving teams is some much-needed rest. They return to the competitive pools of Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida, from March 6-9 for the national championships.

DAY 2

Jamestown Community College continued its record-breaking performance on Day 2.

The Jayhawks once again jumped out to a fast start by winning the the women’s 200 free relay. The team of Madison Kramer, Anna Jones, Hayley Dawson, and Paiden Wittmeyer clocked a time almost 14 seconds faster than second place. JCC was also on top of the 50-yard backstroke, with Wittmeyer earning another gold, and teammate Shalynn Owens captured bronze for the ladies. In the 200-yard free, Stacey Blacker was just off the pace of first place, earning a second for the South African. It was a clean sweep of the top two spots in the 400 individual medley, with Dawson and Jones earning first and second, respectively. Kramer kept her winning ways going in the 100 butterfly, taking first by almost 4 seconds. Fellow Jayhawk Wittmeyer took home third in the event. Switching back to relay, Ella Fosberg, Lindsey Spitz, Kramer and Wittmeyer took the top spot in the 400-yard medley.

On the men’s side, the relay team of Maxim Johnson, Toby Gifford, Lukas Baer and Brady Lindstrom claimed a third-place finish in the 200-yard free. They were less than a half-second off the first-place pace. In the 100-yard butterfly, Johnson was able to win by over 7 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Jamestown had four podium finishers in the 200-yard freestyle, Lukas Baer took fourth, Colton Schuman fifth and Randall Hall sixth. In the 50-yard backstroke, Rinat Kalimullin earned a fifth-place finish at 35.56. Going back to men’s relays, Lindstrom, Gifford, Johnson and Baer grabbed bronze in the 400-yard medley.

Lastly, from the morning session was diving, where Ashlynn Swan has etched her name in the program record books as she keeps dominating the women’s 1-meter diving. Her score of 210.40 was over 10 points better than second place. Shalynn Owens grabbed fourth place in the event with a score of 148.00.

Jumping back in the waters with the evening sessions, the Jayhawks stayed near the top of the podium in most events. In the 100-yard individual medley, it was a second and third for Wittmeyer and Blackler, who finished just four-hundredths of a second between each other. Fosberg came back and won the distance race of 500-yard freestyle by over 8 seconds. Spitz stayed undefeated in her events by claiming the 100-yard breaststroke by over 4 seconds. Dawson and Jones captured the top two spots in the 200-yard butterfly, with Hayley taking first and Anna taking second. A new regional record was set in the women’s 100-yard backstroke with Madison Kramer’s 1:00:76, which was almost 28 seconds better than her closest competition. Another school record fell in the 200 medley relay when Kramer, Spitz, Wittmeyer and Jones won by over 30 seconds.

Finishing up the men’s events, Brady Lindstrom set a new school record in the 100 IM with a 57.54 swim. Toby Gifford came in fifth in the event. Lindstrom also took first in the 100-yard breaststroke. Fellow Jayhawks Gifford and Hall were fifth and eighth. Maxim Johnson kept his winning ways going in the 200-yard butterfly, edging second place by over 3 seconds. In the distance swim of 500-yard free, Schuman earned a fifth for the Jayhawks. It was another fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, with Kalimullin doing the damage. The relay team of Lindstrom, Gifford, Johnson and Kalimullin captured second in the 200-yard medley relay.

“Today was another terrific day with lots of podiums and records. Kids are swimming tough and fighting for these regional titles. I truly am super proud of the energy they keep coming with. The swims are getting better because of the grit each kid is coming with. After a long day, I feel we are focused on the finish line and to finish what we set out to do,” said head coach Todd Conklin.

DAY 1

The Jayhawks women made an early splash as Lindsey Spitz captured first in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 32.88. That was less than two-tenths off of the meet record and over a second faster than the sophomore was when she won the event in the Region 3 championship last year.

Jamestown was also on top of the podium in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Ella Fosberg took the top spot, with teammate Anna Jones just two spots behind in third.

It was an all-JCC top three in the ladies’ 200-yard individual medley. Spitz once again brought home the gold with a time of 2:28:36. She was followed up by Hayley Dawson, who earned silver, and Stacey Blackler captured bronze.

In the women’s 50-yard free, Paiden Wittmeyer took first by almost a second and a half with a time of 26.53. Ashlynn Swan and Shaylnn Owens earned seventh and eighth.

The record books were dusted off in the 800-yard free, JCC’s team of Fosberg, Blackler, Jones and Dawson posted a championship mark of 9:12:79.

On the men’s side, Brady Lindstrom started the Jayhawks off with a bang by winning the 50-yard breaststroke. Teammate Toby Gifford joined him in the top three by bringing a third back to Jamestown. Randall Hall and Rinat Kalimullin claimed a sixth and seventh-place finish.

In the 200 IM, Colton Schuman clocked a fourth-place spot.

Maxim Johnson repeated as the 50-yard freestyle champion with a time of 22.17. He clipped over a half-second off of his championship time from 2023.

In the 800-yard free relay, the team of Lukas Baer, Schuman, Hall and Kalimullin brought home the final podium of the night for Jamestown with a third-place finish.

“As a great first session for us, we wanted to come out fast and aggressive, and the kids did a great job of having high energy and getting the meet started. We started off fast with Lindsay Spitz, and Brady Lindstrom, both winning the 50 breaststroke. Brady Lindstrom’s time was a new school. We ended the night on a higher note when the 800 free relay girls team broke the school record by 12 seconds. Very excited for day two as this is the biggest day of this four-day meet. We’re looking for some more tremendous swims and hopefully a record-setting day to really put us in a great position for Sunday. I’m feeling great with the way the kids are swimming and looking forward to some great results today,” said head coach Todd Conklin.