Swimming Wins ASC Championship
The Brenau swim team completed a strong showing at the Appalachian Swimming Conference meet to easily outpace the competition and capture the championship on Saturday.
The Golden Tigers amassed 689 points and won the championship by 65.5 points over of second place Wheeling Jesuit (W.V.) University. Union (Tenn.) College (364 points), Notre Dame (OH) College (323.5) and Urbana (OH) University (266) rounded out the top five.
Additionally, Courtney Hayward (SO/Townsville, AUS) was named ASC Swimmer of the Meet for placing first in all three of her individual events and setting two new conference records. The Townsville, AUS junior won both her the 500 freestyle (5:00.56) and the 400 yard IM (4:31.82) in meet record setting times, and also won the 1650 freestyle (17:11).
Head Coach Blaire Bachman was also named 2015 Appalachian Swimming Conference Coach of the Year for her team's performance.
The final evening session began with Heyward's first place finish in the 1650 freestyle and a fifth place finish by Ella Kleinschmidt (FR/Hervey Bay, Queensland AUS) (18:06). Talia Sola and Amanda Smith (FR/Cumming, Ga.) followed with a first and third finish in the 200 backstroke with times of 2:04.32 and 2:13.01 respectively.
In the 100 freestyle, Shelby Rumker (SR/Douglas, Ga.) touched in fourth place with a 53.56, while Alisha Hodgetts (FR/Perth, AUS) finished in eighth with 54.66.
Mary Katherine Jabbia (JR/Slidell, La.) secured her third win of the meet placing first in the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.17, while Sarah Frey (FR/Snellville, Ga.) added a sixth place finish in 2:30.02, Maria Quiroga finished seventh (2:35.03) and Sophie Nasstrom (SO/Stockholm, Sweden) finished ninth (2:32.31).
Brenau capped off the meet with a record setting time in the 400 freestyle relay as Michelle Billeaud (SR/Lafayette, La.), Hodgetts, Rumker and Hayward swam a blistering time of 3:34.23.
"What a huge accomplishment for our women's team, and well deserved," said head coach Blaire Bachman. "Our goal this season was to win a conference championship and it's thrilling to see every one's hard work and dedication come together. There were countless meet and team records set, in addition to the many personal bests times. Experiencing this moment with our team is something we will never forget."
The Golden Tigers now set their sights on the NAIA National Championships on March 5th in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2014, Brenau finished fourth overall at the national championships.