Swimming Captures Third Straight Conference Title
The Brenau swim team scored 610.50 points to capture their third straight Appalachian Swimming Conference championship this past weekend in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Four individual champions and three relay championships helped propel the Golden Tigers past Emmanuel (Ga.) College (587 points).
Lindsay Dowling and Courtney Hayward each repeated as multiple individual conference champions from last season. Dowling won the 100 backstroke (58:38) and the 200 backstroke (2:06.37), while Hayward defended her 500 freestyle (5:04.85) titles and also won the1000 freestyle in a meet record time of 10:28.65.
For Hayward, the 1000 freestyle record marked the fifth conference record of her career. The Townsville, AUS native holds individual conference records in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1000 freestyle, 1650 freestyle and the 400 individual medley.
Newcomer Ashley Jou also won an individual title in 3 meter diving title with a score of 162.15.
Brenau captured three relay titles, including the 800 freestyle relay team of Yanne Toussaint, Maria Soledad Morell Quiroga, Ella Kleinschmidt and Hayward, which set a meet record time of 7:48.60.
The 400 medley team of Dowling, Touissaint, Alisha Hodgetts and Hayward took the title in 3:57.86, while the 200 relay team of Dowling, Toussaint, Hodgetts and Kleinschmidt edged out the competition in 1:47.87.
Other top eight individual and relay conference finishers include:
Ayana Daniels, third place, 1 meter diving, 157.75;
Sarah Frey, eighth place, 400 IM, 4:55.67;
Courtney Hayward, second place, 400 IM, 4:33.56;
Alisha Hodgetts, seventh place, 50 freestyle, 24:83; fourth place, 100 butterfly, 58:54; sixth place, 100 freestyle, 54.23;
Ashley Jou, second place, 1 meter diving, 174.35;
Ella Kleinschmidt: third place, 500 freestyle, 5:14.16; fourth place, 200 freestyle, 1:56.52; eighth place, 1650 freestyle, 19:00.89;
Anna Rose, eighth place, 50 freestyle, 25:23 ;
Yanne Toussaint: third place, 200 IM, 2:11.43; third place, 100 breaststroke, 1:08.67; sixth place, 200 breaststroke, 2:30.38;
The 200 freestyle relay team of Anna Rose, Alisha Hodgetts, Madison Kosater and Ella Kleinschmidt: second place, 1:38.42;
The 400 freestyle relay of Chloe Ireland, Ella Kleinschmidt, Alisha Hodgetts and Courtney Hayward: second place, 3:34.89;
Chloe Ireland, sixth place, 1:56.52, 200 freestyle; fifth place, 1650 freestyle, 18:29.44;
Emmanuel (587 points), West Virginia Wesleyan College (388), Wheeling Jesuit University (365.50) and Mars Hill (348) rounded out the top five.
Brenau next looks ahead to the 2017 NAIA National Championships from March 1-4 in Columbus, Georgia.