Success Continues On Day Two for Swimming

The Golden Tigers swim team continued their momentum into day two at the SCAD Invitational, achieving two more new team records and eighteen national qualifying cuts.

Courtney Hayward (Townsville, AUS) and Talia Sola (Madrid, Spain) set new Brenau team records as the Golden Tigers showed well. Hayward raced to a time of 1:54.42 in the 200 Free, while Talia Sola's 55.81 in the 100 Back set the second record of the day.

Evening finals began with an eighth place for the Golden Tigers in the 200 Free relay (1:40.82), following by Kathleen Rossi's (Clearwater, Fla.) 200 Fly finish (2:23.72) and Bella Castille (Lafayette, La) racing to a 2:02.31 in the 200 Free. Breaststrokers, Mary Katherine Jabbia (Slidell, La), Michelle Billeaud (Lafayette, La), Sophie Nasstrom (Sweden) and Alexandria Watkins (Watkinsville, Ga.) racked up big points hitting 1:07.26, 1:07.48, 1:10.67 and 1:14.03 respectively.

Other highlights from the meet include Sola and Shelby Rumker (Douglas, Ga.) both achieving personal and season best times in the 100 Back, going 55.81 and 1:00.31. Hayward topped off her stong day, taking third place in the 400 IM (4:30.63), while fellow freshman Castille made her national cut with a 4:54.89. In the 50 Free, the Golden Tigers showed their depth and strength as Billeaud swam a season best in the 50 Free (24.52), while Nasstrom followed with a time of 25.33, Jabbia with a 25.34 and Sola with a 25.54. The evening finished with a solid 400 Medley Relay placing in fifth place. (3:59.79).

"What incredible swims this team has accomplished," said head coach Blaire Bachman. "I'm ecstatic with the results and our team's constant positivity throughout this meet. We are stronger each day and the girls are seeing their hard work pay off."

The three-day meet concludes on Saturday as the Golden Tigers continue to look to set fast times and break team records.