GARLAND, Texas - Trinity University cruised to its 20th consecutive conference title at the 2023 SCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship which wrapped up Saturday evening at the Garland ISD Natatorium. Official Website | Final Team Scores | Saturday's Complete Results | Saturday Diving Results | Complete Meet Results | Photo Gallery | Video Interviews Playlist | Diving Photos
Trinity finished with 1,077 points while Colorado College was second with 752 points and Southwestern University was third with 715. Rounding out the standings, University of the Ozarks finished fourth with 312 points, McMurry University was fifth with 285 points, Austin College finished sixth with 284 points, and Centenary College finished seventh with 221 points.
Neely Burns of Trinity was named the Swimmer-of-the-Meet. She earned SCAC titles in the 800 free relay, 200 IM, 400 IM, 400 medley relay, 200 breast, and 400 free relay.
Diver-of-the-Meet honors went to Alexis Radhakrishnan who won both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions.
The Trinity University staff - led by second-year head coach Cathleen Pruden, along with assistant coach John Ryan, assistant coach Adrien Downey, and diving coach Stan Randall - earned SCAC Women's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honors. It marked the first Women's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honor for Pruden and second overall (2021-22 Men's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year) since she took over prior to the 2021-22.
Alexis Radhakrishnan of Trinity became the 10th diver in SCAC history to sweep both boards in a championship when she won the 1-meter board. She tallied a score of 433.75 while teammate Gabi Fulk was second with a score of 426.40. Colorado College's Peyton Classon was third with a mark of 416.10. In fourth was Emma Krasemann of Colorado College (413.45), Southwestern's Kristin Mansell was fifth (334.25), Macy McPhillips of Ozarks was sixth (330.30). Trinity's Alex Heinrich was sevent with a score of 284.65, Jordan Perryman of Ozarks was eighth (279.10), Cidette Rice of Southwestern was ninth (214.75), and Kelly Arango Gutierrez of Ozarks was 10th (212.05). Women's 1-Meter Interview
Centenary's Madeline Vacula made history as she became the first Lady to win the 1650 free after she tallied a winning time of 17:55.66. Finishing in second was last year's champion, Liberty Chanin of Austin College, in 18:03.10. Rounding out the All-SCAC performers was Molly Spano of Southwestern who was third with a mark of 18:08.03. 1,650-Yard Freestyle Interview
Audrey Jacobson of Trinity dropped five seconds from her preliminary time as she won the 200-yard back with a time of 2:03.55. She became just the third different Trinity Tiger to win the event as she earned her first career SCAC individual championship. Colorado College's Alexis Lee was second, touching the wall in 2:04.94 while Trinity's Julie Schwam was third with a time of 2:06.38. 200-Yard Backstroke Interview
Trinity's Emma Hagan earned her third SCAC title this wee and fifth career title after she claimed top honors in the 100-yard free. She touched the wall in 51.89 and became just the second swimmer in league history to win the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free in the same championship. Hagan joined fellow Tiger Lydia Jones, who accomplished the feat first back in 2015. Emma Williams of Southwestern finished second with a time of 52.62 while Josie Gillentine of Trinity was third with a mark of 53.08. 100-Yard Freestyle Interview
Neely Burns established a new SCAC open and championship record time of 2:17.35 in winning the 200-yard breast. Burns became just the second swimmer in SCAC history to win the 200 IM, 400 IM, and the 200 breast in the same championship. Malia Hewitt of Colorado College was second finishing with a time of 2:22.18. In third place was Austin College's Sammi Thiele who touched the wall in 2:22.73. 200-Yard Breaststroke Interview
History was made in the 200 fly as Colorado College’s Kate Brush established a new SCAC open and championship record when she touched the wall in 2:02.13. The time was good for B cut time. Brush broke her own records that she set last year in the event. Finishing second was Trinity’s Caroline Myers who touched the wall in 2:07.43. Erica Peterson of Trinity was third with a time of 2:10.73. 200-Yard Butterfly Interview
The Trinity Tigers capped off a dominant championship week as they earned the program’s seventh consecutive win in the 400 free relay. The team of Burns, Jacobson, Myers, and Hagan touched the wall in 3:28.51. Finishing in second was Southwestern’s team of Emma Frey, Zoe Garcia, Williams, and Elise Samples who clocked in at 3:30.15. Rounding out the All-SCAC performers was Colorado College’s quartet of Brush, Lee, Megan Simonson, and Sarah Buchman who secured a time of 3:31.53. 400-Yard Freestyle Relay Interview
Notes: A total of eight SCAC records were set during the week including the 200 medley relay, 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 fly, 100 back, 400 medley relay, 200 breast, qnd the 200 fly. In addition to the eight records, SCAC swimmers tallied 13 NCAA 'B' cut times.
