INDIANAPOLIS — Southern California senior Steven Stumph is proof that size doesn’t matter.
The average height of the 13 individual swimming champions at last week’s NCAA Division I men’s swimming and diving championships was about 6 feet, 4 1/2 inches tall.
Still, the 5-foot-7, 150-pound Stumph brought home honorable mention all-American honors by placing 14th in Saturday’s 200-yard breaststroke. His third consecutive top-15 finish in the event at NCAAs.
“I’m not the biggest guy out there in the field,” said Stumph, who shared publicly he’s gay in November. “I’ve been able to excel at the 200 [breaststroke] just because I’ve been able to focus more on the technique side of swimming.”
Stumph was one of three LGBT athletes competing at the NCAA Division I swimming and diving championships. The other athletes were Purdue diver Max Showalter and Michigan swimmer G Ryan.
Stumph’s time in Saturday’s 200 breaststroke final was 1 minute, 54.42 seconds. It was his third event at NCAAs. He also took 40th in the 100 breaststroke (53.35 seconds) and 45th in the 200 individual medley (1:52.24).
The three-time Pac-12 champion in the 200 breaststroke said he tried not to think too much about it being the end to his college career, but it hit him as he got out of the pool the last time.
“It was kind of sad thinking that was the last time that I was going to be competing collegiately,” said Stumph, who plans to finish his master’s degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures in the fall of 2017.
Showalter, a sophomore, also earned honorable mention all-American honors. On Saturday, he tied for 11th in platform diving, which divers also call tower. Showalter, who identifies as gay, scored 356.80 points in the platform consolation final after scoring 341.80 in prelims.
“I’m really happy overall,” said Showalter, who finished 15th in platform at last year’s NCAAs. “I didn’t have a super, great tower meet. Nothing spectacular — I hit a few in the prelims, but I didn’t dive out of my mind.”
At the women’s championships from March 15-18, Ryan earned all-American honors with a third-place finish on Michigan’s 800-yard freestyle relay (6:53.53) and an eighth place in the 500 freestyle (4:40.28). Ryan, who identifies as queer, added honorable mention all-American honors with a 12th place in the 1,650 freestyle (15:59.46). In the 200 freestyle, Ryan finished 26th in 1:45.71.
Three coaches that identify as gay had athletes competing at the NCAA championships.
Patrick Jeffrey (Stanford men’s and women’s diving coach) guided Theodore Miclau to eighth place in the men’s platform and Cameron Thatcher to 15th in 3-meter springboard during the men’s championship. He coached women’s diver Kassidy Cook to two all-American honors by taking third on 1-meter springboard and eighth on 3-meter springboard.
Jesse Moore (assistant coach, Northwestern women’s swimming & diving) saw diver Olivia Rosendahl win the national title in platform. Rosendahl also got honorable mention all-American in 3-meter springboard, and Valerie Gruest Slowing took ninth in the 1,650 freestyle.
Nunzio Esposto (Duke men’s and women’s diving coach) had four total men’s and women’s divers compete with women’s diver MaryEllen Targonski taking 16th and earning honorable mention all-American honors in platform diving.
Texas won the men’s team title with 542 points. Stanford finished fifth (242 points), Southern California took sixth (237 points), and Purdue snared 13th place (106.5 points).
Stanford won the women’s team title with 526.5 points. Michigan finished 11th with 159 points, Northwestern came in 21st with 40 points, and Duke tied for 47th with one point.
Names in bold are people that have announced publicly they identify as LGBT.
Division I
Chase Boyle (senior, Mount St. Mary’s men’s track & field) opened the outdoor season by taking seventh in the hammer (179 feet, 1 inch), 19th in shot put (43-11), and 20th in discus (128-11 1/2) in a 14-team meet at High Point on March 17-18. At the Fred Hardy Invitational on March 24-25, Boyle won the hammer (178-9 1/4), took sixth in the discus (131-0), and recorded no distance in the shot put.
Tim Cox (senior, Yale men’s track & field) helped the 4×800-meter relay to a fifth-place finish in 7 minutes, 39.86 seconds on March 24-25 at the Raleigh (N.C.) Relays, which opened Yale’s outdoor track season.
Drew Davis (redshirt senior, Limestone men’s volleyball) made 11 digs and two kills in Saturday’s three-set win against Mount Olive. Limestone (9-8 overall, 9-4 Conference Carolina) went 1-2 the last two weeks.
Konrad Eiring (sophomore, Illinois men’s track & field) finished second in the 800 meters (1:52.41) at the UNLV Invitational on March 18. This was Illinois’ first meet of the outdoor season, and Eiring missed the indoor season due to injuries.
Emmonnie Henderson (senior, Louisville women’s track & field) started the outdoor season with a win in the shot put (55 feet, 8 1/2 inches) at the Yellow Jacket Invitational on March 17.
Mason Johnson (junior, Quinnipiac women’s rugby) opened the spring season Saturday with a championship at the Crimson 7s tournament. In pool play, Quinnipiac beat Brown 48-0 and West Chester 46-0. In the title game, Quinnipiac defeated Harvard 22-10. Information on who played in the matches for Quinnipiac was not available.
Jake Martin (redshirt senior, Ohio State men’s gymnastics) scored 80.400 points to win the all-around title during a dual meet at Illinois on Saturday, and No. 3 Ohio State defeated No. 4 Illinois 417.350-415.250. On March 18, Martin was named one of eight finalists for the Nissen Emery Award, the top honor for college men’s gymnasts. The Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships are scheduled to be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. ET on April 7-8.
Cavender Salvadori (redshirt junior, William & Mary men’s track & field) missed the first two meets of outdoor season with a hip injury.
Jaron Thomas (senior, Colorado men’s track & field) finished second in both the 400-meter hurdles (53.19 seconds) and 110 hurdles (14.13 seconds) at the Jerry Quiller Classic on March 18. His 110-hurdle time may be fast enough to earn him an NCAA postseason berth, based on 2016 qualifying times. On March 24-25, Thomas won the 110-meter hurdles (14.22 seconds) and helped the 4×400 relay to a win during a four-team meet at Colorado State.
Taylor Tvedt (senior, Lehigh women’s lacrosse) led the Mountain Hawks (7-2 overall) to a 4-0 record the last two weeks. Tvedt started all four games in goal. She made a season-high 10 saves in a 16-6 win against VCU on March 13.
Juan Varona (redshirt senior, Barton men’s volleyball) played in two of four matches the last two weeks as the Bulldogs (15-5 overall, 13-2 Conference Carolinas) went 3-1. Varona recorded four digs and four assists in Saturday’s four-set win against Pfeiffer.
Jenny Allard (head coach, Harvard softball) took the Crimson (8-9 overall) to the Hawaii Invitational, where they went 1-6 from March 14-18.
Colin Christiansen (assistant coach, Maryland-Baltimore County softball) watched the Retrievers (14-16 overall) go 5-1 the last two weeks.
Randy Lane (assistant coach, UCLA women’s gymnastics) saw the Bruins tie for third March 18 at the Pac-12 Championships, which were won by Utah. No. 5-ranked UCLA heads to the NCAA Regional in Champaign, Illinois, on April 1.
Simon Thibodeau (head coach, UC Santa Barbara women’s tennis) went through a 5-2 loss to Harvard on March 18. The Gauchos (7-8 overall) won at No. 1 doubles, No. 4 singles, and No. 6 singles.
Michele Van Gorp (director of recruiting operations, Duke women’s basketball) saw the Blue Devils (28-6 overall) beat No. 15-seeded Hampton 94-31 in the opening round of NCAA tournament March 18. No. 10-seeded Oregon beat No. 2-seeded Duke 74-65 on March 20 in the second round.
Kirk Walker (assistant coach, UCLA softball) helped the No. 15-ranked Bruins (24-8 overall) go 3-3 the last two weeks. All three losses came against No. 20-ranked Utah. On April 9, UCLA’s game against Oregon is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPNU at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.
Division II
Alanna Carvalho (junior, Alabama-Huntsville women’s lacrosse) helped the Chargers (9-3 overall) to a 1-1 record the last two weeks. She had four goals in an 18-15 loss to St. Leo on March 18.
Kylon Drones (junior, West Texas A&M men’s track & field) took third in the 110-meter hurdles (14.62 seconds), ninth in javelin (117-10 3/4), and 10th in long jump (21-9 3/4) on Saturday at the Kittley Invitational in Abilene, Texas.
Carly Muscaro (senior, Merrimack women’s track & field) opened the outdoor season with a 200-meter win (23.78 seconds) at the 49er Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 17-18. On March 15, the USTFCCCA named Muscaro the Division II Women’s National Track Athlete of the Year and the East Region Track Athlete of the Year after the she won the NCAA Division II 200- and 400-meter indoor national titles.
Austin Shupp (redshirt sophomore, Shippensburg men’s track & field) earned a win as part of the 4×100-meter relay to go with a third place in the 110 hurdles (15.07 seconds) and a fifth place in the 4×400 relay at Saturday’s Fred Hardy Invitational to open the outdoor season.
Lauren Lappin (assistant coach, Missouri-St. Louis softball) coached the No. 25-ranked Tritons (21-9 overall) to a 3-3 record the last two weeks.
Tony Nicolosi (head coach, Cal State East Bay men’s & women’s track & field) saw men’s runner Aaron Jones finished top 10 in the 200 and 400 meters at the Sacramento State Hornet Invitational on March 18 and again on Saturday at the Warrior Open.
Division III
Ryan Beene (senior, Texas Lutheran men’s tennis) went 3-1 in singles and 4-0 in doubles to help the Bulldogs (8-2 overall) to a 5-0 week in Orlando, Florida, from March 14-18.
Michael Drougas (junior, Oberlin men’s tennis) went 5-0 at No. 3 singles and 4-0 at doubles as the Yeomen (10-5 overall) went 6-0 the last two weeks. Drougas received the North Coast Athletic Conference men’s tennis athlete of the week March 13 for his singles and doubles wins March 12.
Jason Hadley (sophomore, Mount Union men’s track & field) finished 29th in the 1,500 meters (4:24.13) and 40th in the 800 meters (2:07.11) during Saturday’s 17-team Cedarville Invite.
Sam Knollmeyer (freshman, Hamilton men’s lacrosse) saw the Continentals (2-5 overall) go 0-4 the last two weeks. Knollmeyer, a goalie, has not played yet this season.
Ryan LaVigne (junior, Lewis & Clark women’s rowing) opened the season March 18, but the school did not announce which rowers competed in which boats.
Chance Wheeler (freshman, Wilson men’s volleyball) helped the Phoenix (8-19 overall) go 3-3 the last two weeks. He played in all six matches and tied a season-high with 13 digs in a March 19 three-set loss to Wells College.
T.J. Greggs (head coach, Agnes Scott women’s tennis) guided the Scotties (5-5 overall) to a 3-3 record the last two weeks.
NAIA
Jack Strickland (senior, Friends men’s track & field) took seventh in the 110-meter hurdles (15.37 seconds) and 10th in the 400 hurdles (57.7 seconds) at the Emporia State Open, which began the outdoor track season for Friends, on March 17. At the Arkansas Spring Invitational on Saturday, he took 11th in the 110 hurdles (15.37 seconds) and 14th in the 400 hurdles (57.82 seconds).
Nick Clark (head coach, Clarke men’s volleyball) led the Crusaders (17-7 overall, 5-4 Heart of America) to a 1-2 record the last two weeks. Clarke sits in third in the six-team conference with one conference game remaining.
Community College
Taylor Emery (sophomore, Gulf Coast State women’s basketball) had 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists as Gulf Coast State defeated Trinity Valley 87-63 in Saturday’s NJCAA National Championship game in Lubbock, Texas. It is the second consecutive NJCAA national title for Gulf Coast State, which finishes 34-2 overall. Emery was named MVP of the tournament. On March 15, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association named Emery the 2017 Junior/Community College Player of the Year and an all-American. On Sunday, she said on Twitter her three choices for where she will play next season are Mississippi, Oklahoma State, and Virginia Tech.
Erik Hall can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @HallErik or on Facebook. If you are an out LGBT athlete or coach and want your accomplishments recognized, please email Erik.
