Freshman
Sydnie Wells will be representing the Dutchwomen's swim team this weekend at
the NCAA Division III championship in St. Louis,
Principia. Next weekend, sophomore D.J.
Hogenkamp will represent the Dutchmen at the national meet, which will also be
held in St. Louis, Principia.
Wells, a graduate of Bolton Central School in
Bolton, New York, captured the New York State championship in the 200
butterfly. Wells, who also helped all
five of Union's relay teams finished in the top eight, qualified for nationals
in the 400 IM as well as in the 200 fly and is eligible to compete in the 400
IM as well.
Hogenkamp, a native of East Aurora, New York, and a
graduate of East Aurora High School, qualified to compete in the 100 and 200 backstrokes
and is also eligible to compete in the 200 IM. He finished second at the state
meet in the 100 and 200 backstroke events as well as in the 100 butterfly.
“Both DJ and Sydnie had
outstanding state meets to qualify for the
Nationals,” said head coach
Scott Felix. “Sydnie's 400 IM time of
4:37.16 was a new team record and DJ's time of 1:52.15 was only .42 seconds off
of Mike Humphrey's (who captured a national championship) team record of
1:51.73 in the 100 backstroke.
“They have been training
hard and I can definitely see them improving on their accomplishments from when
they swam in their respective state meets,” continued Felix. “I'm excited to see what they can accomplish
at the national level.”