LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The 2015 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Swimming & Diving Championships will be held February 11-14 at the Rockwall Independent School District Natatorium in Rockwall, Texas. Psych Sheet | Official Website | Live Video ($)
It is the fourth consecutive year that the conference meet will be held at the Rockwall ISD.
The Trinity University women won their record-setting 11th straight SCAC Women's Swimming and Diving title last year with another dominant championship performance. The Tigers, who outpointed second-place Colorado College 904 to 693, posted individual wins in 10 of 15 events.
Trinity returns 10 swimmers who earned All-SCAC honors a year ago, led by two-time defending SCAC Women's Swimmer-of-the-Year junior Kara Beauchamp, who won three events at last year's championship meet. For the second consecutive year, Beauchamp placed first in the 200 breast as well as the 200 and 400 IM. She set new conference championship meet records in both the 200 IM (2:06.27) and 400 IM (4:27.40) and her winning time in the 200 breast was the second-fastest in conference history. Senior Lydia Jones won the 50 free and 200 free (1:53.39 – second-fastest time in SCAC history) and finished second in the 100 free. Junior Becca Bond won the 100 back and finished third in the 200 back while junior Leah Selznick and senior Sarah Miller posted second place finishes in the 200 free and 1650 free, respectively. Senior Kelly Holton (200 medley) and sophomores Kate Bommer (200 free) and Alyssa Cuda (400 free) were integrel parts of Trinity's all-conference relay teams. A slew of first-year Tigers have posted top three times this season, including Bethany Rysak (200 and 500 free), Thea Hesson (400 IM and 200 back), Rebecca Andruzzi (400 IM), Lauren Cuda (200 IM and 200 free) and Lindsay Hagmann (50 and 100 free and 100 breast). Junior Ashley Heline and sophomore Molly Patzke are poised to continue the Tigers' dominance on the boards. At last year's SCAC championship, Heline won both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards and Patzke placed third on both platforms. And just as she did in 2013, Heline went on to earn all-American recognition on both boards at Nationals.
For the second straight year, Colorado College posted a second-place finish at the conference championships. The Tigers return eight All-SCAC swimmers from a year ago, including junior Olivia Dilorati who placed first in the 100 fly and 200 back and third in the 200 IM. It was the second consecutive year that she won the 200 back and she went on to earn HM All-America honors in the 100 fly at Nationals. Junior Megan Gillespie returns after finishing second in the 200 fly and third in both the 200 breast and 400 IM a year ago. Also returning is senior Emma Holmes, who placed third in the 500 free, and junior Jackie Nonweiler, who finished third in the 100 breast. Newcomers Ellen Silk (100 and 200 fly) and Emily Harrison (200 and 500 free) have already posted top times heading into the conference meet and freshman Mary Rose Donahue promises to be a threat on both the 1- and 3-meter boards. As for relays, the Tigers won four of the five events at last's conference championship meet and the pieces remain in place for another dominant performance, including three-fourths of the record-setting 400 free relay squad from a year ago (Dilorati, junior Erin Holmes and junior Annalise Grigereit).
Southwestern University, which finished fourth for the second consecutive year, will bring lots of new faces to Rockwall for this year's conference championship meet. The Pirates do return sophomore Madison Doty, who placed third in the 100 back last year. Southwestern placed in three of the five relays at last year's meet, including a team-best second place finish in the 200 medley led by Doty, sophomore Kenly Gaynor and senior Blythe Nava. In addition, senior Makaylee Frederick was a key leg on the 200 and 400 free relay teams. First-year swimmers Natalie Lesnick and Taylor Adams have posted impressive times in several events and should provide valuable scoring opportunities for the Pirates.
Centenary College placed fifth at last year's conference meet and brings a squad of nine - led by seniors Chelsea Russell, Kayla Thornhill and Christy Wolterman - to Rockwall for this year's championship. Russell was on the 400 medley relay team that placed second at last year's conference meet. She, along with freshman Caitlyn Faulhaber, have posted pre-championship times that are in line to give the Ladies opportunities to scale the awards platform for all-conference recognition.
With seven freshmen on a roster of 11, if Austin College is to improve on last year's sixth-place finish the 'Roos will need an outstanding meet from junior Lauren Wheeler. Wheeler earned all-SCAC honors in both the 100 and 200 back in 2014 after placing second in both events. Heading into this year's championships, the talented third-year swimmer has posted the only sub-minute in the 100 back at 59.54 and is poised to earn her first SCAC individual title.
McMurry (Texas) University is making its inaugural appearance at the SCAC championships. An affiliate member of the conference in the sport of swimming and diving, the Warhawks are led by veteran coach Bev Ball who brings a roster of six women's swimmers to Rockwall for this year's conference meet. Leading the Warhawks are freshmen Robyn Remschel and Zandria Rodriguez as well as sophomore Kelly McNamee and junior Samantha Spain. All four earned individual wins this past weekend in the team's final meet of the regular season against Austin College.
Competition at the 2015 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships begins on Wednesday, February 11 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 12 and runs through Saturday, February 14 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 2015 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships:
http://scacsports.com/tournament/winter/swimming/index
