Swimming Looks To Defend Title At ASC Championships
The #2 ranked Brenau swim prepares to defend their title as conference champions at the 2016 Appalachian Swimming Conference (ASC) Championships from February 11-13th at the Christianburg Aquatic Center in Christianburg, Virginia.
After winning the 2015 ASC Championships, the Golden Tigers were rewarded by being selected by the ASC coaches as the favorites to repeat in 2016.
At the last year's championships, the squad showed strong individual and team performances, amassing 689 points and outpacing second place Wheeling Jesuit (W.V.) University by 65.5 points.
In the 2015 meet, Courtney Hayward was named ASC Swimmer of the Meet for winning first place honors in three different events. The Townsville, Australia native won the 500 freestyle, setting a new meet record in a blistering time of 5:00.56, but also picked up titles in both the 400 IM (4:29.02) and 1650 freestyle (17:11). Hayward now sits in 2016 as the favorite in the 500 freestyle, the 400 IM and the mile.
Mary Katherine Jabbia also earned three individual titles, capturing wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.67), the 200 breaststroke (2:25.17) and the 200 IM (2:09.66). For Jabbia, this was her second 200 IM title at the conference level and enters the meet as the 2016 favorite in the 100 breaststroke.
Along with Hayward and Jabbia, two other individual swimmers and all five relay teams are listed as meet favorites. Alisha Hodgetts is the top seed in the 100 butterfly, while Lindsay Dowling is the favorite both in the 100 and the 200 backstroke.
For head coach Nate Rhoads, the ASC Championship will be a good test for his nationally ranked team, saying, "We are excited to race! The ladies have put a lot of time and focus in preparing for this meet. They want to win, but know it is tough to repeat as champions."
Preliminary races will begin at 9 am each day, with the finals starting at 6 pm. Follow the Golden Tigers by clicking on the link below for live meet results!