COLUMBUS, Ohio — The final line of “Hail to the Victors” meant a little more to G Ryan at the end of the Big Ten Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 17.
Singing the Michigan fight song with teammates and coaches in the diving pool at Ohio State’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion was how the Wolverines celebrated winning their third consecutive Big Ten team title.
When they hit the song’s finale, Ryan felt extra pride because the last line rung true, “Hail! Hail! To Michigan the champion of the West.”
“That was accurate,” said Ryan, a Michigan senior who identifies as transgender, non-binary and gender queer. “We are the Big Ten champions for three years in a row, and that is pretty incredible.”
Ryan contributed to the Big Ten title by swimming in four events.
They helped win the 800-yard freestyle relay. Ryan also took third in the 500 freestyle (4:37.37), sixth in the 1,650 freestyle (15:59.72), and eighth in the 200 freestyle (1:46.44). They were selected to the All-Big Ten First Team.
Ryan, who is 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, started the meet by anchoring the 800 freestyle relay, which had an electric atmosphere.
“I went into the water ahead of the other teams, and I had to hold onto that lead, which I was thankfully able to do,” said Ryan, who won by 3.25 seconds. “It was an exciting race. It was a lot of energy, a lot of people yelling and cheering.”
The individual events didn’t match Ryan’s performances from a year ago, which included winning the 500 and 1,650 freestyle races. Ryan mostly attributed that to missing the first six weeks of the season with “health complications.”
“(Matching last year) wasn’t really my focus for this meet,” Ryan said. “Team performance was by far what I was centered around, so every time my teammates succeeded, so did I. And that meant that there was a lot of success.”
Even without duplicating last year’s success, Ryan expects to qualify for the NCAA Championships in at least the 500 and 1,650 freestyle races when those selections are announced Wednesday. The NCAA Championships are March 14-17, also at Ohio State.
Ryan is set to graduate in May with degrees in English and women’s studies and a minor in sociocultural anthropology. Before graduation, Ryan has another milestone to anticipate.
“The week after NCAA’s is, actually, probably one of the biggest events I have planned, which is top surgery. I am extremely excited about that,” Ryan said. “It will be really affirming for me to have top surgery and be able to go through with that.”
Ryan’s college swimming career is about done, and no matter what happens at NCAA’s, they now have a third Big Ten team title.
“It’s always something every year that I don’t take for granted,” Ryan said. “I mean, so much can happen over the course of those four days that can influence team rankings, and being able to say that I won (the Big Ten) in my senior year is an incredible finishing point to my career, even though it’s not quite the last meet. That’s one of the culminating events.”
G Ryan can be found on Twitter @G_RRyan.
Names in bold are people that have announced publicly they identify as LGBTQ. Results are for competitions that took place Feb. 12-25.
Division I
Jace Anderson (junior, Nebraska men’s track & field), Konrad Eiring (junior, Illinois men’s track & field), and Dawson LaRance (freshman, Minnesota men’s track & field) competed at the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. Eiring finished 12th in the 800 meters (1:51.19), and LaRance took 14th in the 800 (1:51.69). LaRance also helped the Gophers finish eighth in the distance medley. Anderson took 12th in triple jump (48 feet, 2 1/2 inches). In the Big Ten team standings, Nebraska took second, Illinois finished eighth, and Minnesota took ninth. On Feb. 16, Anderson took third in the triple jump (47 feet, 9 3/4 inches) at the Nebraska Tune-Up. Brad Neumann (redshirt senior, Minnesota men’s track & field) missed the Big Ten Championships with a hamstring injury.
Matt Aronson (junior, Wisconsin men’s diving), Clark Carter (junior, Indiana men’s diving), and Jack Thorne (junior, Northwestern men’s swimming) competed at the Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 21-24. Thorne took 19th in the 200-yard backstroke (1:43.79) to go with 29th in the 100 backstroke (48.46 seconds) and 38th in the 200 individual medley (1:49.73). On 1-meter springboard, Aronson took 33rd (258.25) and Carter was 36th (238.2). On 3-meter, Carter got 24th (334.0) and Aronson finished 37th (261.5). Carter earned 27th on platform (253.15). Carter helped Indiana win the men’s team title with 1,658 points, and Wisconsin finished sixth with Northwestern ninth.
Philip Batler (sophomore, Brown men’s track & field) ran the 60 meters in 6.942 seconds during prelims at the Ivy League Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday. Batler qualified for Sunday’s finals with the eighth best prelim time, but he is not listed in the results for the finals. Brown finished third in the eight-team meet.
Simon Carne (senior, Drexel men’s diving) and Anthony Musciano (sophomore, Drexel men’s diving) ended their season by helping the Dragons take second at the CAA Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 14-17. Musciano was named the Most Outstanding Men’s Diver of the Meet. He won the 3-meter springboard (306.75) and 1-meter (277.45). Carne took second on 1-meter (265.8) and fifth on 3-meter (263.2).
Nile Clark (senior, Miami men’s tennis) won, 6-4, at No. 2 doubles with Pablo Aycart on Friday against College of Charleston, which Miami beat 7-0.
Taylor Emery (junior, Virginia Tech women’s basketball) contributed to the Hokies (17-12 overall, 6-10 ACC) going 1-3 the last two weeks. Her best game in that stretch included 20 points, four steals and three rebounds in a 73-56 loss to Wake Forest on Feb. 15. Emery missed the Feb. 22 game at No. 5-ranked Notre Dame due to illness, according to the Indianapolis Star. The Hokies’ season continues Thursday against Syracuse at the ACC tournament.
Aidan Faminoff (sophomore, Florida State men’s diving) and Nunzio Esposto (diving coach, Duke men’s and women’s diving) were at the ACC Swimming & Diving Championships from Feb. 14-17. Faminoff took third on platform (333.65), eighth on 3-meter springboard (300.5) and 18th on 1-meter (302.8). “He had to battle through some injuries and poor weather that kept him off platform as much as we and he wanted this year, but we couldn’t be more pleased with how he performed at this meet,” Florida State diving coach John Proctor said in a press release. “Working with Aidan is always a hoot and holler.” The best result for Duke diving came from senior MaryEllen Targonski, who took second on platform, and the Blue Devils’ best men’s result came from junior Evan Moretti, who finished fourth on 1-meter springboard. The Duke women’s team finished sixth. Duke’s men took seventh with the Florida State men in fifth.
Liam Fitzgerald (senior, Princeton men’s diving), Charlie Minns (sophomore, Princeton men’s diving), and David Pfeifer (senior, Harvard men’s diving) competed at the Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 21-24. On 3-meter springboard, Minns took fifth (340.9), Pfeifer finished sixth (332.05), and Fitzgerald grabbed 12th (297.2). On 1-meter, Minns came in sixth (311.25), Pfeifer finished ninth (297.3) and Fitzgerald was 10th (286.1). Harvard won the men’s team title with 1,630.5 points, and Princeton was second.
Emmonnie Henderson (redshirt senior, Louisville women’s track & field) received the ACC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year for a second straight year at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday. She helped Louisville finish third as a team. Henderson won the shot put with a personal-record throw of 59-6 1/4, and she finished third in the weight throw (66-5 3/4).
Bree Horrocks (redshirt junior, Vanderbilt women’s basketball), Kelly Komara (assistant coach, Vanderbilt women’s basketball) and Stephanie White (head coach, Vanderbilt women’s basketball) saw the Commodores (7-23 overall, 3-13 SEC) go 1-4 the last two weeks. Horrocks played in three of the five games, and she provided two points and one rebound in a 63-60 loss to Auburn on Feb. 12. Vanderbilt’s season continues at the SEC tournament.
Ayrton Kasemets (senior, Oakland men’s swimming) helped his team win the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 21-24. He was on the winning 400-yard medley relay, placed third in the 100 breaststroke (55.06 seconds), took fifth in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.92), and finished 25th in the 200 individual medley (1:54.16).
Johnny Kemps (sophomore, Boston men’s track & field) finished fourth in the mile (4:12.8) at the Patriot League Championships on Feb. 17-18, and he helped the 4×800-meter relay place fourth and the distance medley take sixth. Boston finished fifth as a team.
John Kim (senior, VMI men’s swimming) competed in seven events at the America East Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 15-18. His best individual results were fifth-place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke (51.06 seconds) and 200 backstroke (1:51.4), and Kim lowered his school record in both events. From Friday to Sunday, Kim swam six events at the ECAC Championships, and his best individual result was 11th in the 200 backstroke (1:52.56).
Kennedy Lohman (sophomore, Texas women’s swimming) won three events and helped Texas win the Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 21-24. Lohman won the 100-yard breaststroke (59.251 seconds), 200 breaststroke (2:09.711), and was on the winning 400 medley relay. “I’ve been training really hard,” Lohman said in a press release. “It’s been some of the best training I’ve ever done in my life.”
Justice Lord (junior, Barton men’s volleyball) helped the Bulldogs (10-6 overall) go 5-0 the last two weeks. Lord started all five matches, and he had seven kills and two digs in Friday’s three-set win over Lees-McRae. Michael Tyler (junior, Barton men’s volleyball) is no longer on the roster.
Tiffany Moore (junior, Sacramento State softball) left the softball team this season and decided to join the Sacramento Police Department, according to Sacramento State head softball coach Lori Perez. “I couldn’t be prouder of her and miss seeing her every day,” Perez said.
Cory Moreno (senior, Old Dominion men’s diving) took third in the 1-meter (329.75) and 3-meter springboard (321.55) at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championships on Feb. 14-17. Old Dominion finished second at the conference meet.
Susie Poore (freshman, Lehigh women’s track & field) took seventh in the 3,000 meters (10:04.08) at the Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 17-18. Lehigh finished fifth as a team.
Jaron Thomas (redshirt senior, North Texas men’s track & field) ran a season-best 60-meter hurdles time (8.06 seconds) in the prelims, but he finished eighth in the finals in 8.54 seconds at the Conference USA Championships on Feb. 17-18. He also helped the distance medley relay finish fourth and 4×400 relay take sixth. As a team, North Texas came in ninth in the nine-team field.
Kelsey Tyler (senior, IUPUI women’s track & field) took 19th in the 3,000 meters (10:40.28) at Sunday’s Horizon League Track & Field Championships, where IUPUI finished fifth.
Jenny Allard (head coach, Harvard softball) went 2-3 to open the season, with one of the losses 9-3 against No. 23-ranked Kentucky on Saturday.
Colin Christiansen (assistant coach, UMBC softball) started the season 1-9. On Feb. 18, the Terriers beat East Carolina 6-5.
Patrick Jeffrey (diving coach, Stanford men’s & women’s diving) helped the Cardinal win the Pac-12 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 21-24. Kassidy Cook led the Stanford women’s divers by taking second on the 1-meter springboard. The Pac-12 men’s diving championships took place in conjunction with the women’s meet, and the Cardinal’s Theodore Miclau won the men’s platform.
Randy Lane (assistant coach, UCLA women’s gymnastics) helped the No. 3-ranked Bruins beat No. 8 Oregon State 198.075-196.525 on Sunday, and on Feb. 18, Utah, ranked No. 3 at the time, beat UCLA 197.55-197.425.
Lee-J Mirasolo (assistant coach, Harvard women’s hockey) ended the season with a 6-1 loss to No. 4-ranked Colgate on Saturday in the ECAC tournament. The Crimson (13-16-2 overall) went 2-3 the last two weeks.
Jesse Moore (assistant coach, Northwestern women’s swimming) saw the Wildcats take seventh in the 13-team field at the Big Ten Championships from Feb. 14-17.
Cale Robinson (assistant coach, Stanford women’s gymnastics) experienced a loss to No. 23-ranked California on Feb. 17 and at No. 10 Washington on Feb. 24.
Simon Thibodeau (head coach, UC Santa Barbara women’s tennis) saw the Gauchos (5-6 overall) go 2-2 the last two weeks. The two most recent matches were a pair of wins to start Big West Conference action.
Kirk Walker (assistant coach, UCLA softball) helped the No. 3-ranked Bruins (15-0 overall) go 10-0 the last two weeks. On Saturday, UCLA handed No. 7-ranked LSU its first loss of the season with a 9-1 win in five innings.
Division II
Alanna Carvalho (senior, Alabama-Huntsville women’s lacrosse) helped the Chargers (3-1 overall) go 2-1 the last two weeks. She scored six goals in a 26-7 win against Lee on Feb. 21. Carvalho received the Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 13 for her six goals and two assists in the team’s season opener.
Kylon Drones (senior, West Texas A&M men’s track & field) took fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.22 seconds), placed fifth in the heptathlon (4,751 points), and finished eighth in the triple jump (43-8 1/4) at the Lone Star Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday and Sunday. The West Texas A&M men’s team took second.
Austin Shupp (senior, Shippensburg men’s track & field) helped the Raiders win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday by placing third in the 60-meter hurdles (8.23 seconds), taking seventh in long jump (21-6), and eighth in triple jump (43-3 1/4).
Mark Johnson (assistant coach, Tampa baseball) helped the No. 2-ranked Spartans (10-2 overall) go 6-0 the last two weeks in regular season games. Tampa also lost 6-0 in an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Feb. 22.
Lauren Lappin (assistant coach, Missouri-St. Louis softball) saw the Tritons (4-6 overall) go 2-4 the last two weeks.
Tony Nicolosi (head coach, Cal State East Bay men’s and women’s track & field coach) got a 48-37 dual meet win from the men’s team Feb. 19 to start the outdoor track season. The women’s team lost its opening meet 43-41.
DJ Slifer (assistant coach, Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball) ended the season with a 69-62 overtime win against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. Texas A&M-Kingsville finishes 8-20 overall after going 2-2 the last two weeks.
Division III
Chris Cassingham (senior, Mary Washington men’s swimming) helped his team win the Capital Athletic Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday to Sunday. Cassingham took second on the 800-yard freestyle relay and placed seventh in the 500 freestyle (4:46.96).
Kyle Davis (junior, Ithaca men’s track & field) finished fourth in the triple jump (43-1 3/4) and 10th in the long jump (20-5) at Friday and Saturday’s Liberty League Indoor Track & Field Championships, which Ithaca’s men’s team won. On Feb. 16, Davis took seventh in long jump (20-7 1/2) and triple jump (42-7) at a home triangular meet.
Alec Donovan (redshirt sophomore, Centenary wrestling) went 2-2 at the NCAA Mideast Regional on Saturday and Sunday. His season ended with a 5-3 decision in the consolation quarterfinals at 165 pounds. On Feb. 16, he ended the regular season with an 11-0 major decision win at 165 pounds during Centenary’s 52-5 win over Hunter College.
Michael Drougas (senior, Oberlin men’s tennis) won his doubles match (8-2) and won in straight sets at No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-2) as Oberlin won 9-0 against Centre College on Feb. 17.
Lindsey Farrell (junior, McDaniel women’s lacrosse) helped the Green Terror go 1-1 to start the season. She scored three goals in a 19-11 loss to St. Mary’s on Saturday.
Dominick Gutierrez (junior, Lynchburg men’s tennis) helped earn an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles on Feb. 18 in Lynchburg’s 9-0 win against Ferrum. But Gutierrez did not play the ensuing two matches, and he is no longer on the team’s roster.
Jason Hadley (junior, Mount Union men’s track & field) finished eighth in the 1,000 meters (2:39.46) to help his team win the Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, which took place Friday and Saturday.
Isaac Hanson (freshman, Hamline men’s swimming) took sixth in the 100-yard butterfly (51.69 seconds) and 12th in the 200 butterfly (2:00.6) at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Championships on Feb. 15-17. He helped the 800 freestyle relay finish third, 400 medley relay place fifth, and 200 medley relay take sixth. Hamline finished sixth as team.
Harrison Knowlton (junior, Middlebury men’s track & field) and Tucker Meijer (junior, Amherst men’s track & field) competed at the Division III New England Championships on Feb. 16-17, and Knowlton took fifth in the 5,000 meters (15:10.5) with Meijer finishing seventh in the 5,000 (15:13.52).
Nathan Matthews (junior, Wittenberg men’s volleyball) helped the Tigers (9-7 overall) go 1-1 the last two weeks. Matthews had three digs in both matches.
Cal Neikirk (junior, Pomona-Pitzer men’s track & field), Nick Vucovich (senior, Pomona-Pitzer men’s track & field) and Lucas White Moon (sophomore, Pomona-Pitzer men’s track & field) competed at Saturday’s Rossi Relays, which included Vucovich helping the 4×800-meter relay win. Also at the Rossi Relays, Neikirk took sixth in the 110 hurdles (15.32 seconds), while White Moon came in eighth in the long jump (21-2 1/2) and triple jump (41-1). On Feb. 17 at the Collegiate All Comers, Neikirk took sixth in high jump (5-10 3/4) and seventh in the 110 hurdles (15.64 seconds); Moon finished seventh in the triple jump (42-4 3/4) and 13th in long jump (20-5); and Vucovich did not compete.
Isaac Reed III (junior, Denison men’s track & field) took second in the triple jump (42-4) and fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.81 seconds) at Friday’s NCAC Last Chance Meet. On Feb. 17 at the Kenyon Classic, Reed took second in the triple jump (42-4 1/4) and fifth in the 60 hurdles (8.74 seconds).
Jen Moore (assistant coach, Swathmore softball) opened the season by going 1-1 in a doubleheader Saturday against Wesley College.
Taylor Tvedt (assistant coach, Augsburg women’s lacrosse) went 1-1 to start the season, and that includes Sunday’s 18-6 win over Wartburg.
NAIA
Jaxon Cork (freshman, Clarke men’s volleyball) and Nick Clark (head coach, Clarke men’s volleyball) saw the Pride (11-9 overall) go 2-6 the last two weeks. Cork did not play in the eight matches.
NJCAA
Lexie Gerson (assistant coach, Harcum women’s basketball) saw her team win all three of its games the last two weeks, including a 72-49 win Saturday against Raritan Valley in the opening round of the Region XIX tournament.
Layne Ingram (head coach, Lansing women’s basketball) led the Stars (13-13 overall) to a 1-3 record the last two weeks.
Erik Hall can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @HallErik or Facebook. If you are an out LGBTQ athlete or coach and want your accomplishments recognized, please email Erik.
