Trinity Wins 12th Straight SCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championship

ROCKWALL, Texas -- Trinity University won its 12th straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Women's Swimming & Diving Championship Saturday evening at the Rockwall Independent School District Natatorium. Official Website | Saturday's Complete Results | Team Scores | Video Recap | All-SCAC Team

The Tigers scored 954 points to hold off Colorado College, which finished with 872 points, in the closest women's team finish since the 2011 championships.

Trinity swept Swimmer and Diver of the Meet honors as senior Lydia Jones, who picked up three individual wins including three NCAA 'B' cut performances, earned SCAC Female Swimmer-of-the-Meet honor and freshman Sarah Mrkonich, who swept both the 1- and 3-meter board, was named SCAC Female Diver-of-the-Meet.

The Trinity coaching staff, led by head coach John Ryan, along with the Colorado College coaching staff, led by head coach Anne Goodman James, were named SCAC Women's Co-Staffs-of-the-Year.

Colorado College's second place finish marked the fourth consecutive year that the Tigers have finished as runner-up at the SCAC championships. Southwestern University placed third with 646 points to post that program's highest-ever conference finish.

Rounding out the standings, Centenary College was fourth with 313 points, Austin College finished fifth with 268 points and McMurry University, in its inaugural SCAC championship, placed sixth with 224 points.

In the afternoon session, Trinity's Mrkonich won the Tiger program its 10th consecutive conference title on the 3-meter board, posting a winning score of 513.25 - the fifth-best performance in the event's history. Sophomore Mollie Patzke was second with a score of 465.60 and Colorado College freshman Mary Rose Donahue placed third with a score of 454.85.

Another Trinity freshman, Rebecca Andruzzi, kept the momentum going for the Tigers in the evening session, winning the 1650 freestyle in a time of 17:59.73. Colorado College freshman Emily Harrison finished second in a time of 18:01.78 and senior Sarah Miller of Trinity was third in 18:13.02.

Junior Olivia Dilorati of Colorado College defended her 200 backstroke title and became the first women's swimmer to win three consecutive titles in the event. The junior dominated the field with a NCAA 'B' cut finishing time of 2:03.96. Freshman Robyn Remschel of McMurry University was second to Dilorati and touched the wall at 2:05.58. Senior Chelsea Russell of Centenary was third in a time of 2:06.27. 

Trinity's Jones picked up her third individual title of the 2015 championships with a victory in the 100 free. Her finishing time of 51.14 established a new SCAC meet and open record and also marked a NCAA 'B' cut standard. Jones' teammate, freshman Lindsay Hagmann, was second in a time of 52.98 and freshman Justina Zuckerman finished third in 53.32.

In the 200 breast, it was junior Megan Gillespie of Colorado College winning her second individual title of the championships, taking first place in a time of 2:26.20. Her teammate, junior Jackie Nonweiler, was second in 2:29.48 and senior Kelly Holton of Trinity finished third in a time of 2:31.26.

After taking second place in the 200 IM and 100 fly, freshman Ellen Silk of Colorado College earned the gold medal she was seeking, taking first-place in the 200 fly in a NCAA 'B' cut time of 2:07.38. Sophomore Kenly Gaynor of Southwestern earned All-SCAC honors with a second-place finish in a time of 2:13.76, and sophomore Zoe Pierrat of Colorado College took third place with a finishing time of 2:21.21.

In the final women's event of the championships, the Trinity 400 relay team of freshman Lauren Cuca, Hagmann, freshman Bethany Rysak and Jones picked up the program's three relay win in five attempts, with a winning time of 3:31.72. Finishing in second was Colorado College (Grigereit, Zuckerman, Emma Holmes and Dilorati) in a time of 3:33.02 and coming in third was Southwestern University (sophomore Madison Doty, senior Blythe Nava, sophomore Marisa McCormack, freshman Natalie Lesnick) with a finishing time of 3:39.08.

In all, 11 NCAA 'B' cuts were achieved and four SCAC championship meet and open records were established during the women's portion of this year's conference meet.

All SCAC swimmers who achieved 'B' cuts will await word from the NCAA regarding official selections for the national championships.