COLUMBIA, Mo. — For the first time this school year, a pair of openly LGBT athletes competed at the same event: the Show-Me Showdown swimming invitational Oct. 2 at the University of Missouri.
Saint Louis University junior Nick Jessee and Lindenwood University junior Austin Olivares were not only at the same meet, but they were in the same events. Olivares, who transferred this summer from Florida Atlantic to the suburban St. Louis school, won both battles.
Olivares swam the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 47.28 seconds, and Jessee finished it in 1:47.30. The pair finished 30th and 31st, respectively, in a field of 70 swimmers.
The pair also entered the 100 butterfly with Olivares taking 26th in 53.55 seconds and Jessee finishing 32nd in 53.99 seconds.
Missouri won the men's team title with Lindenwood taking fifth and St. Louis sixth in the 10-team meet. St. Louis and Lindenwood compete against each other again Oct. 24.
The Show-Me Showdown was one of three competitions for St. Louis during the past two weeks.
On Oct. 4, St. Louis competed at a six-team meet in Fishers, Indiana. Jessee swam the 500 freestyle (seventh place, 4:55.27), 1,000 freestyle (sixth, 10:22.79), and on the 400-yard freestyle relay that took third place.
On Saturday, SLU swam with Henderson State at Arkansas-Little Rock. Jessee swam the 100 freestyle (sixth place, 48.78 seconds), 200 freestyle (second, 1:47.50), 500 freestyle (fourth, 4:57.86), and on the winning 200 freestyle relay.
Names in bold are people that have announced publicly they identify as LGBT.
Division I
Left tackle Mason Darrow (junior, Princeton) made his first start of the season in Princeton football's 44-20 win against Colgate on Saturday. The Tigers are 4-0, and Darrow played in each game.
Griffin Hay (junior, Portland) made his season debut for the cross country team at the Washington Invitational on Oct. 2. Hay finished the 8-kilometer race in 25:23.6, but he suffered a hamstring injury during the race, leaving his availability the rest of the season uncertain.
Ayrton Kasemets (sophomore, Oakland) opened his swimming season Friday by competing in five relays at Notre Dame in the Dennis Stark Relays, and the best finish was sixth in the 3×100-yard breaststroke. Then Saturday, he swam against Green Bay in one relay and three individual events, and his best finish was fifth in the 100 breaststroke (59.47 seconds).
Jesse Klug (senior, Bucknell) suffered a broken foot in the men's soccer game Sept. 27, according to Jon Terry, Bucknell associate director of athletics/athletic communications. Terry said they are unsure how long the injury will sideline Klug, but the hope is he'll return before the end of the season.
Alex Obendorf (sophomore, West Virginia) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard diving events at the season-opening West Virginia State Games on Thursday and Friday. His score in 3-meter qualified him for the NCAA postseason Zone Meet.
Under coach James Finley, the Seattle women's volleyball team went 1-2 the last two weeks. On Oct. 5, Redhawks middle blocker Martina Samadan received Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week. Seattle is 11-7 overall, 3-2 in the WAC.
UC Santa Barbara women's tennis coach Simon Thibodeau saw his singles player Jaimee Gilbertson improve to 5-0 this fall by winning the gold division singles title Oct. 4 at the Cal Nike Invitational.
Flooding in South Carolina caused College of Charleston women's volleyball, where Drew Davis is an assistant coach, to postpone a pair of matches the weekend of Oct. 3-4. One match moved to the following Tuesday with Charleston defeating Delaware, and the other match hasn't been rescheduled. The Delaware win started a three-match win streak for Charleston (11-8, 3-2 Colonial Athletic Association).
Division II
Noah Ratliff (freshman, Mercyhurst University) scored his first collegiate water polo goal Saturdayagainst Monmouth College in a 19-10 win. Mercyhurst is 7-0 since Ratliff joined following a shoulder injury.
Division III
To end the fall tennis season, Michael Drougas (sophomore, Oberlin College) won his singles and doubles tennis matches Saturday against Wittenberg. That came after losing in singles and doubles earlier in the day against Carnegie Mellon.
David Gilbert (junior, Lewis-Clark State College) ran 28:25.5 during the 8-kilometer gold cross country race at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Oct. 3.
Cross country runner Max Korten (senior, Moravian College) completed the 8-kilometer white race in 29:29.7 at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 2 in Bethlehem, Pa.
On Sept. 30 and Oct. 3, goalie Michael Martin (freshman, Wilson College) recorded back-to-back shutouts against the men's soccer teams from Gallaudet University and Keuka College, leading to a win and a tie. He made a combined 16 saves in the games for Wilson (2-7-1).
Upcoming competitions involving LGBT college athletes and coaches that have announced their sexuality publicly. (All times are Eastern)
Thursday, Oct. 15
Jack Thorne, Northwestern men's swim team at Eastern Michigan; Ypsilanti, Mich., 3 p.m.
James Finley (coach) Seattle University women's volleyball at Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, 8 p.m.
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships at San Diego State, San Diego, Calif., All Day
Friday, Oct. 16
Alex Obendorf, West Virginia men's diving vs. Georgia Tech; Morgantown, W.V., 5 p.m.
Austin Parrish, Eastern Illinois men's swimming at Illinois Invitational; Champaign, Ill., 3 p.m.
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships at San Diego State, San Diego, Calif., All Day
Drew Davis (ast. coach) College of Charleston women's volleyball vs. James Madison; Charleston, S.C.,7 p.m.
Chris Cassingham, Mary Washington men's swimming vs. Washington & Lee; Fredericksburg, Va., 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 17
Mason Darrow, Princeton football at Brown; Providence, R.I., Noon
Liam Huffman, George Washington men's swimming at Howard; Washington, D.C., 1 p.m.
Jesse Klug, Bucknell men's soccer vs. Navy, Lewisburg, Pa., 4 p.m.
Alex Obendorf, West Virginia men's diving vs. Virginia Tech; Morgantown, W.V., 2 p.m.
Austin Parrish, Eastern Illinois men's swimming vs. IUPUI; Charleston, Ill., 1 p.m.
Gavin Studner, Lafayette men's tennis vs. Alumni, Easton, Pa., 10 a.m.
James Finley (coach) Seattle University women's volleyball at New Mexico State, Las Cruces, N.M., 3 p.m.
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships at San Diego State, San Diego, Calif., All Day
Lee J-Mirasolo (ast. coach) Harvard women's hockey (EXHBITION) vs. McGill; Cambridge, Mass., Noon
Austin Olivares, Lindenwood men's swimming at Truman State; Kirksville, Mo., 2 p.m.
Noah Ratliff, Mercyhurst College men's water polo at CWPA Division II Championship vs. Gannon, 3 p.m.; vs. Salem International, 7 p.m.; Salem, W.V.
Chris Cassingham, Mary Washington men's swimming at Catholic; Washington, D.C., 1 p.m.
Max Korten, Moravian College men's cross country at Rowan University Inter-Regional Border Battle; Glassboro, N.J., 11:45 a.m.
Michael Martin, Wilson College men's soccer vs. Morrisville State College, Morrisville, N.Y., 1 p.m.
David Gilbert, Lewis-Clark State College men's cross country at Inland Empire Challenge, Lewiston, Idaho, TBA
Sunday, Oct. 18
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships at San Diego State, San Diego, Calif., All Day
Drew Davis (ast. coach) College of Charleston women's volleyball vs. Towson; Charleston, S.C., 1 p.m.
Michael Martin, Wilson College men's soccer vs. Cazenovia, Cazenovia, N.Y., Noon
Monday, Oct. 19
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at ITA Southwest Regional Championships at San Diego State, San Diego, Calif., All Day
Wednesday, Oct. 21
Michael Martin, Wilson College men's soccer vs. Penn State Berks, Reading, Pa., 4 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 22
James Finley (coach) Seattle University women's volleyball vs.Chicago State, Seattle, 10:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 23
Alex Obendorf, West Virginia men's diving vs. Butler, Seton Hall, Xavier; Morgantown, W.V., 6 p.m.
Gavin Studner, Lafayette men's tennis at Patriot League Kickoff, Bethlehem, Pa., All Day
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at CSUN Matador Classic, Northridge, Calif., All Day
Drew Davis (ast. coach) College of Charleston women's volleyball at Northeastern; Boston, Mass., 7 p.m.
Lee J-Mirasolo (ast. coach) Harvard women's hockey at Dartmouth; Hanover, N.H., 7 p.m.
Javier Ruisanchez, Gannon University men's swimming at Westminster Relay Meet; New Wilmington, Pa., 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24
Mason Darrow, Princeton football at Harvard; Boston, Mass., Noon
Liam Huffman, George Washington men's swimming at UMBC; Baltimore, TBA
Nick Jessee, St. Louis; Austin Olivares, Lindenwood men's swimming vs. Maryville, Missouri S&T, Indianapolis; St. Peters, Mo., 1 p.m.
Jesse Klug, Bucknell men's soccer at American, Washington, D.C., 1 p.m.
Alex Obendorf, West Virginia men's diving vs. Butler, Seton Hall, Xavier; Morgantown, W.V., 10 a.m.
Gavin Studner, Lafayette men's tennis at Patriot League Kickoff, Bethlehem, Pa., All Day
Jack Thorne, Northwestern men's swim team vs. University of Chicago, UIC, Denison; Evanston, Ill., 2 p.m.
James Finley (coach) Seattle University women's volleyball vs. UMKC, Seattle, 4 p.m.
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at CSUN Matador Classic, Northridge, Calif., All Day
Noah Ratliff, Mercyhurst College men's water polo vs. Iona, 9:30 a.m.; vs. Fordham, 4:30 p.m.; Bronx, N.Y.
Javier Ruisanchez, Gannon University men's swimming at Cleveland State; Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Michael Martin, Wilson College men's soccer vs. SUNY-Poly, Chambersburg, Pa., 1 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25
Gavin Studner, Lafayette men's tennis at Patriot League Kickoff, Bethlehem, Pa., All Day
Simon Thibodeau (coach) UC Santa Barbara women's tennis at CSUN Matador Classic, Northridge, Calif., All Day
Drew Davis (ast. coach) College of Charleston women's volleyball at Hofstra; Hempstead, N.Y., 1 p.m.
Michael Martin, Wilson College men's soccer vs. SUNY-Cobleskill; Chambersburg, Pa., Noon
