LEWISVILLE, Texas - The Trinity University men's and women's teams both lead after the second day of the 2016 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatics Center. Official Championships Website
On the women's side, and with two days in the book, Trinity - in search of its 13th straight SCAC women's swimming and diving title - jumped Colorado College and leads the 2016 championship with 317 points. After leading following Wednesday's opening relays, Colorado College slipped to second and has a team total of 269 points. Southwestern University sits in third place with 190 points while Centenary College is fourth with 153 points. Austin College follows in fifth with 124 points and McMurry University rounds out the standings with 111 points.
The Trinity women started Thursday's evening session with a victory in the 200 yard freestyle as the team of Lauren Cuda, Lindsay Hagmann, Bethany Rysak and Paige Johnson touched home in a winning time of 1:37.72. Southwestern's women took second place in a time of 1:39.82 and Colorado College placed third with a finishing time of 1:40.64.
The first individual event of the meet brought more accolades for the Texas Tigers as Trinity finished 1-2-3 in the 500 yard free. Rysak placed first in a time of 5:10.45, Rebecca Andruzzi was second in 5:10.53 and Ashley Ward completed the All-SCAC sweep with a third-place finish of 5:14.37. The sweep marked just the second time in league history that one program has finished 1-2-3 in the 500 free (Trinity in 2013).
Kara Beauchamp kept Trinity atop the winner's podium for a third-straight event - winning the 200 yard IM in a time of 2:08.36. It was the senior's third career win in the event. Ellen Silk of Colorado College placed second in a time of 2:11.26 and Natalie Lesnick of Southwestern was third in a time of 2:12.01.
In the final women's event of the evening, Olivia Dilorati of Colorado College posted a NCAA 'B' cut in the 50 yard free with a winning time of 23.54. She was followed by Lindsay Hagmann of Trinity with a time of 23.63 - also a NCAA 'B' cut - and Justina Zuckerman of Colorado College with a finish of 24.31.
On the men's side, Trinity increased its lead over second-place Southwestern University to 58 points as the TU Tigers hold a 339-281 advantage over the Pirates. Centenary College (La.) remains in third with a score of 220 while Austin College moved into fourth-place with 136 points. Colorado College follows closely behind with a score of 131 while McMurry University rounds out the group at 90 points.
The 200 freestyle relay team of Gordon Allan, Andre Newlands, Isaac Johnson and Jonathan Hoffman won the event with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:22.85. It marked the fifth straight title for Trinity in the event.
The TU Tigers also received a solid performance from Andrew Thiesse as he became just the second person in SCAC history to win the 500-yard freestyle at least three times in his career. The senior totaled a time of 4:41.05.
Southwestern's Matt Sluss broke his previous school record in the 200-yard individual medley with a winning time of 1:53.35. The time also marked the second fastest time in SCAC history. In earning the win, Sluss became just the third man in league history to win the event in consecutive years.
Trinity and Southwestern earned the top four spots as the Tigers and Pirates dominated the 50-yard freestyle. Newlands and Johnson finished in first and third for the Tigers, respectively, while Michael Glover and Simmon Belaineh were second and fourth, respectively for the Pirates. The quartet were separated by just 0.62 seconds.
Competition continues on Friday with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 a.m., with the finals set for 6:30 p.m. Click here for the complete schedule of events.
