Swimming Wraps Up Invitational
Brenau Swimming finished fifth overall at the Third Annual Brenau Invitational which hosted twelve teams, including NAIA schools SCAD-Savannah, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College and Milligan (Tenn.) College.
The Golden Tigers competed in two timed final sessions Saturday, starting the morning off with a fourth place finish in the 200 Medley Relay (1:52.57). Courtney Hayward (Townsville, AUS) followed with a fifth in the 400 IM (4:47.60) and Michelle Billeaud (Lafayette, La.) grabbed points in the 100 Fly (1:00.73). Shelby Rumker (Douglas, Ga.) hit the wall ninth in the 200 Free (2:02.10), while breaststrokers, Mary Katherine Jabbia (Slidell, La.) and Sophie Nasstrom finished the 100 Breast in 1:13.22 and 1:14.28 respectively.
Brenau's Tala Sola (Madrid, Spain) gave the team their only win of the meet in the 100 Back (58.10). The 800 Free Relay team completed the morning session with a season best time of 8:18.55.
The afternoon turned out multiple season-best times for the Golden Tigers as Hayward came in second in the 1650 Free with a time of 17:49.67 and Kathleen Rossi (Clearwater, Fla.) scoring an NAIA "A" Cut with 18:44.62. Sola and Rumker met season best times in the 200 Back, touching at 2:09.88 and 2:15.80 respectively. Jabbia placed eighth in the 200 Breaststroke in 2:36.22, and Nasstrom added a season-best time of 2:39.04.
Saturday concluded with the Golden Tigers placing fifth the 400 Free Relay in 3:47.19.
"We enjoyed hosting an invitational of this size and depth as it creates an environment that motivates and encourages swimmers-both NAIA and NCAA-towards achieving best times," said head coach Blaire Bachman. "Our swimmers had some ups and downs, but saw plenty of season-best times and they are ready to rest a bit before heading to Savannah in two weeks. Our training has prepared us to see fast swims and we hope to represent Brenau well at our mid-season meet."