WOMEN PLACE THIRD, MEN EIGHTH AT NAIA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Olivet Nazarene University swimming & diving teams brought home place finishes at NAIA Swimming & Diving Championships this week. The Tiger men scored 155 points to place eighth while the ONU women notched 391 points to bring home the third-place trophy.
The eighth-place finish is a one-spot improvement from last year's ninth-place finish for the men. The ONU women placed third last year, as well.
In total, the Tigers set 26 personal bests, broke three school records, had 16 individual NAIA All-American finishes, and earned All-American status in all 10 relays.
ONU got out to a great start on the first day of the NAIA National Championships. The earned All-American finishes in all four relays. Paige Howell, Julie Vega, Taryn Dailey, and Allison Pearson finished runner-up in the women's 200-yard medley relay. They finished in 1:43.97. Halle briner, Carley Logan, Grace Barnhart, and Pearson were fifth in the women's 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:40.01. Nicholas Klenner, Peter Adams, Jack Fries, and Timothy Braun finished eighth in the 200-yard medley in a time of 1:32.38. The ONU men also had an eighth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay, with Klenner, Braun, Mason Beall, and Fries clocking in at 6:49.34.
The Tigers crowned seven individual All-Americans on Thursday. Pearson and Briner collected their first individual All-American honors with fourth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, in the women's 200-yard IM. Pearson finished in 2:05.53 and Briner in 2:06.72. In the women's 500-yard freestyle, Barnhart placed eighth in 5:11.20 and Logan finished 13th in 5:10.26. Vega notched a fifth-place finish in the women's 50-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 23.79. Beall earned an All-American finish in the men's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:37.79. Fries took 16th in the men's 200-yard IM in 1:54.04.
Pearson, Briner, Taylor King, and Vega (1:35.54) were third in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay, while the men's team of Fries, Beall, Porter Hoffman, and Braun (1:23.49) took seventh.
The highlight event for ONU came during Friday's session. Three Tigers placed inside the top-five of the women's 100-yard breaststroke: Pearson was the runner-up in 1:02.06, Julie Vega took third in 1:02.22, and Megan Schroeder placed fifth in 1:03.89. ONU had three more All-Americans in the women's 100-yard backstroke. Howell took fifth (57.72), Katelyn Inman finished 12th (58.22), and Abbie Christensen placed 16th (59.50). Dailey notched an All-American effort in the women's 100-yard butterfly, placing fourth in 56.18. Briner added another All-American performance, taking sixth in the women's 200-yard freestyle in 1:53.44. Two more Tiger men earned All-American status on Friday. Nicholas Klenner made the A-heat finals in the men's 100-yard backstroke. He placed eighth in 50.58. Peter Adams took 10th in the men's 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 57.12.
Howell, Vega, Dailey, and Pearson teamed for a runner-up finish in the women's 400-yard medley relay in 3:47.63. Klenner, Adams, Fries, and Braun placed seventh in the men's event in 3:23.14.
On the final day Saturday, Pearson notched her second runner-up finish of the Championships. Pearson touched the wall in 2:15.78 to place second in the women's 200-yard breaststroke. She edged out Vega, who was third in 200 breast in 2:15.99. Multiple Tigers added their second individual All-American finishes on Saturday. Dailey placed third in the women's 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.48, Klenner placed sixth in the men's 200-yard backstroke in 1:49.08, Beall took 14th in the men's 1650-yard freestyle in 16:28.94, Barnhart finished ninth in the women's 1650-yard freestyle in 17:48.15 and Logan (18:03.43) placed 15th, and Inman (2:04.96) and Howell (2:04.07) placed seventh and 10th, respectively, in the women's 200-yard backstroke. Chase Aruskevicious took 15th in the men's 200-yard backstroke (1:53.93).
Pearson, Briner, Inman, and Vega teamed for a third-place showing in the women's 400-freestyle relay in 3:30.13. Braun, Beall, Hoffman, and Fries placed eighth in the men's event in 3:05.13.
--ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
