LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The 2014 Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Swimming & Diving
Championships will be held February 12-15 at the Rockwall
Independent School District Natatorium in Rockwall,
Texas. Psych Sheet | Official
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It is the third consecutive year that the conference meet will be
held at the Rockwall ISD.
The Trinity University women won their record-setting 10th
straight SCAC Women’s Swimming and Diving title last year
with another dominant championship performance. The Tigers, who
outpointed second-place Colorado College 1161.5 to 859.5, posted
individual wins in nine of 15 events and won all five team
relays.
Trinity returns 10 swimmers who earned All-SCAC honors a year ago,
led by defending SCAC Women’s Swimmer-of-the-Year Kara
Beauchamp who won three events at last year’s championship
meet. A two-time SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week this season, the
sophomore placed first in the 200 breast as well as the 200 and 400
IM. Her 400 IM time (4:28.49) shattered the old conference mark by
almost five seconds and her winning 200 IM time (2:06.83) was the
second-fastest ever recorded at the SCAC championships. The Tigers
also return a quintet of student-athletes who earned two individual
All-SCAC honors in 2013. Junior Lydia Jones, who was SCAC
Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 5, won the 200 free (1:53.79 –
third-fastest time in SCAC history), finished second in the 500
free and was on four of Trinity’s five winning relay teams
while senior Melanie Gustafson won both the 500 (5:00.14) and 1650
free (17:17.51) in the second and fifth-fastest times,
respectively, in SCAC championship meet history. Sophomore Leah
Selznick (200 and 500 free) and junior Kelly Holton (100 and 200
breast) also earned All-SCAC honors in two events last year.
Sophomore Ashley Heline and senior Kathryn Sheldon are poised to
continue the Tigers’ dominance on the boards. At last
year’s SCAC championship, Heline finished second to former
teammate Ruth Hahn on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards and
Sheldon was third on the 1-meter board. Both earned all-American
recognition a season ago – Heline on the 3-meter board,
Sheldon on the 1-meter. Heline has been a four-time SCAC
Diver-of-the-Week this season
Colorado College posted a program-best second-place finish at the
2013 conference championships. The Tigers return five
All-SCAC swimmers from a year ago, including sophomore Olivia
Dilorati who placed first in the 100 and 200 back and third in the
100 fly. Dilorati has earned SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week honors twice
this season. Other superlative performances were turned in by
senior Brenna Day, who won the 50 free and placed second in the 100
free, and sophomore Megan Gillespie, won the 200 fly and finished
second in the 400 IM with the fifth-fastest time ever in SCAC
championship competition. In the diving competition, sophomore
Samantha Buxbaum will be expected to score for the Tigers on both
the 1- and 3-meter boards. She has twice been selected as SCAC
Diver-of-the-Week this season.
After a third-place finish in its inaugural SCAC championship meet
in 2013, Centenary College looks to build on that strong opening
act. Senior Rachel Olson is the Ladies leading returning scorer
after finishing second in both the 200 fly and the 200 IM at last
year’s championship meet. The SCAC Female Swimmer-of-the-Week
in Week 10, Olson has posted the fastest 200 fly and second-fastest
100 fly times in the SCAC this season. Junior Christy
Wolterman and senior Michelle Gaubert will also be counted on to
score for Centenary.
Southwestern University finished in fourth place a year ago, the
program’s best conference finish since the 2002
championships. The Pirates return two-time All-SCAC performer Emily
Haskell, who won the 100 breast and finished second in the 200
breast at the 2013 conference meet. She was the SCAC
Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 7. In addition to Haskell, Southwestern
has two first-year swimmers who are prepped to make their mark at
this year’s championship. Madison Doty, SCAC
Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 4, has posted top four times in three
different events this season – the 100 free, 200 free and 100
back – and Kenly Gaynor has charted the third- and
fourth-fastest times, respectively, in the 100 and 200 fly.
Austin College, which finished fifth at the 2013 championships,
will be led by sophomore Lauren Wheeler. As a freshman Wheeler
earned All-SCAC honors with a second-place finish in the 200 back
and was just one place out of All-SCAC recognition with
fourth-place finishes in the 50 free and 100 back. Senior Anne
Booker provides leadership for a young ‘Roos team that
otherwise consists entirely of first- and second-year swimmers.
The University of California-Santa Cruz is making its inaugural
appearance at the SCAC championships. An affiliate member of the
conference in the sport of swimming and diving, the Banana Slugs
have produced over 100 All-America selections, two national
champions, an Olympic trial qualifier and a Maccabien Games gold
medalist over the last 11 years. For this year’s squad, two
first-year swimmers have some of the top times swam in the SCAC
this season. Krystal Feri has the top time in the league in the 200
breast (2:27.26) and the second-best times in both the 100 breast
and 200 IM. Kelley Henderson has posted the second-best times in
both the 100 and 200 free and has the third-fastest time in the
league this season in the 50 free. Senior Josanne Van Der Wilk, who
was selected Female Swimmer-of-the-Meet for NCAA Divisiion III and
NAIA competitors at the 2013 Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive
Conference Championships (the Slugs’ former swim conference),
will look to score in several distance events.
Competition at the 2014 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships
begins on Wednesday, February 12 with three events (women’s
and men’s 200 medley relay, men’s 1-meter diving and
the women’s and men’s 800 free relay) at 6:30 p.m. CST.
Competition continues on Thursday, February 13 and runs through
Saturday, February 15 with morning preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. and
finals following at 6:30 p.m. each day.
For a complete schedule of events, go the official website of
the 2014 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships:
http://scacsports.com/tournament/winter/swimming/index
