SAN ANTONIO, Texas - SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Trinity University women continue to pull away from the field as the Tigers picked up three more individual wins and established a 640 to 513 lead over second-place Colorado College heading into the final day of the 2019 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships. Official Website | Friday's Complete Results | Photo Gallery
Trinity earned a victory on the 3-meter board early in the afternoon and closed the evening with wins in the 200 free and 100 back as the program is seeking its 16th consecutive SCAC women’s swimming title.
Maren Merwarth started the scoring for Trinity with a victory on the 3-meter board as the freshman bested the competition with a score of 431.42. Colorado College took the next four spots, including All-SCAC performances from second-place finisher Jen Middleton (368.95 points) and third-place finisher Riley Wadehra (366.75 points).
The Tigers’ Mabel Fowler earned her second individual win of the championship, coupling her victory on Thursday in the 500 free with a victory in the 200 free, touching first in a time of 1:53.48. Her winning time was the fourth-fastest in championship history as the sophomore led a 1-2-3-4 Trinity sweep in the event. Teammates Meghan Magill and Abbie Jones finished second and third, respectively, in times of 1:55.65 and 1:56.18.
Paige Johnson picked up a win in the 100 back, touching first in 58.04. The victory represents the first victory for the Trinity program in the event since 2014. Teammate Star Rosales followed in a time of 58.11 and Centenary’s Brianna Serret finished third in 59.66.
Colorado College remained in second place as the Tigers picked up a win in the first individual swim of the evening – the 400 IM. Freshman Key Macfarland earned the top podium position with a winning time of 4:40.92. Colorado College’s Selma Jukic was second in 4:41.02 and Trinity’s Ivy Claflin placed third in 4:42.33.
Among the other individual performance highlights on Friday evening, Southwestern’s Jesse Stovall and Rehgan Hartsell both earned their second individual wins of the 2019 championship.
Stovall, who finished first in the 50 free on Thursday, took first-place honors in the 100 fly with a time of 57.19, becoming the first Pirate to win the event in meet history. Colorado College’s Jio Change placed second in 57.61 and Trinity’s Morgen Reyna was third in 57.85.
Hartsell matched Thursday night’s gold medal finish in the 200 IM with top honors in the 100 breast. The sophomore touched first in 1:04.69 to earn a NCAA ‘B’ cut and her second consecutive victory in the event. Kaylin Swoboda finished second in a time of 1:05.99 and Colorado College’s Emily Erickson placed third in 1:08.03.
In the final event of the evening on the women’s side, Stovall and Hartsell teamed up with Ashley Harmon and Erika Dubros to take top honors in the 400 medley relay in a winning time of 3:56.30. Like their male counterparts, it was the third relay win for the Pirates and Stovall and Hartsell were a part of all three swims. Trinity placed second in a time of 3:57.95 and Colorado College finished third in 4:01.66
The team standings heading into tomorrow’s final day are as follows:
1) Trinity University – 640
2) Colorado College – 513
3) Southwestern University – 475
4) Centenary College – 300
5) Austin College – 226
6) University of the Ozarks – 125
7) McMurry University – 100
Competition concludes on Saturday with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 a.m. The league’s annual senior night recognition ceremony kicks off the evening session at 5:45 p.m., with finals scheduled to begin shortly afterwards. Click here for the complete schedule of events.