SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Trinity University cruised to its 17th consecutive conference title at the 2020 SCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship which wrapped up Saturday evening at the Josh Davis Natatorium. Official Website | Final Team Scores | Saturday's Complete Results | Complete Meet Results | Photo Gallery | Video Interviews Playlist
Trinity finished with 1,050 points while Southwestern University was second with 789 points and Colorado College was third with 775. Rounding out the standings, Centenary College finished fourth with 407 points, Austin College was fifth with 268 points, University of the Ozarks finished sixth with 178 points, and McMurry University finished seventh with 166 points.
Mabel Fowler of Trinity was named the Swimmer-of-the-Meet. She earned SCAC titles in the 800 free relay, 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 free, 400 medley relay, 200 back, and 400 free relay. Her eight career individual titles are tied for fourth all-time in SCAC championship meet history.
Diver-of-the-Meet honors went to Maren Merwarth who won the 3-meter competition and took second in the 1-meter board. Her total points of 951.65 nipped teammate Katarina Partalas, who had 943.15, to earn Women's Diver-of-the-Meet.
The Trinity University staff - led by third-year head coach Scott Trompeter, along with head diving coach Stan Randall, assistant coach John Ryan and assistant coach Kimberly Jones - earned SCAC Women's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honors. The award marked the sixth consecutive year the program has been so honored and 12th time overall.
Trinity swept the top three spots in the 1-meter diving competition as Katarina Partalas edged out Maren Merwarth by 14.85 points. Partalas tallied a score of 492.90 while Merwarth scored a 478.05. Mya Tio was third with a score of 458.35. Divers from Colorado College took spots four through eight. Riley Wadehra (446.05), Peyton Classon (437.10), Jennifer Middleton (420.45), and Zivia Berkowitz (398.10) followed. Kyla Gorman of Southwestern University (362.50) finished ninth.
The 1650 free saw Anabelle Conde of Trinity win the event with a time of 18:06.54. It marked the Tigers' seventh win in the past eight years in the event. Southwestern's Natalie Hicks was second after she touched the wall in 18:19.59. Rounding out the top three was Kerren Matthews of Colorado College with a time of 18:26.65
Fowler of Trinity defended her SCAC title in the 200 back as she clocked an NCAA 'B' cut time of 2:03.16. She beat out Selma Jukic of Colorado College, who finished second with a mark of 2:09.73. Southwestern's Alicia Peters was third as she touched the wall in 2:10.12.
In an exciting 100 free, Jesse Stovall of Southwestern edged out Trinity's Morgen Reyna by just 0.27 seconds to defend her SCAC title. Both Stovall
(51.38 seconds - fourth fastest SCAC championship time) and Reyna (51.65 seconds) earned NCAA 'B' cut times. Star Rosales of Trinity was third when she touched the wall in 52.25 seconds.
Rehgan Hartsell became just the fourth swimmer in league history to win the 200 breast three times when she posted a gold-medal time of 2:24.47. She joined Trinity's Christine Jayne (1999, 2001, 2002), DePauw University's Catie Baker (2009-2011) and Trinity's Kara Beauchamp (2013, 2014, 2016) as three-time winners i the event. Kaylin Swoboda of Centenary College was second to Hartsell after clocking a time of 2:27.18, and rounding out the all-SCAC team was Trinity's Jadyn Trahan who finished in 2:27.93.
Kate Brush came from behind in the final 10 yards to earn the title in the 200 fly, finishing with a time of 2:07.79. With the win, she became the fifth Colorado College swimmer since 2013 to win the SCAC championship in the event. Finishing in second was Caroline Westholder of Trinity who touched the wall in 2:08.11. Millie Benkert of Colorado College was third after posting a time of 2:12.92.
Trinity closed the night out with a win in the 400 free relay. Mabel Fowler, Elizabeth Nelson, Rosales, and Reyna clocked a time of 3:27.84 to set both SCAC championship and open records and earned an NCAA 'B' cut in the process. It also marked the fourth-straight win for the Tigers and the seventh win in the past nine years in the event. Southwestern placed second when the foursome of Emma Frey, Hartsell, Stovall, and Brielle Adolph touched the wall at 3:32.01. Colorado College's Jio Chang, Jukic, Peyton Wright, and Brush placed third with a time of 3:37.93.
