ONU SWIM & DIVE SWEEPS KCAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
BEE, Neb. – The Olivet Nazarene University swim & dive teams brought home banners as the top teams at the KCAC Championships this weekend. The ONU women totaled 909 points to finish first out of nine teams, while the Tiger men racked up 803 points to take the top spot out of seven teams.
The wins make the ONU men back-to-back KCAC champions and mark the fourth-consecutive conference title for the Tiger women. ONU women's swim & dive is the only conference champion in KCAC history.
In addition to the team glory, Nicholas Klenner and Jack Fries were named KCAC Co-Male Swimmers of the Year. Fries was also named KCAC Freshman Swimmer of the Year. Head coach Kelly Essler was recognized as the Women's Coach of the Year by the KCAC.
In total, the Tigers won 28 out of 40 of the events at the KCAC Championships, setting 12 new conference records along the way.
The ONU women won all five relays and set conference records in four of them. Julie Vega, Halle Briner, Taylor King, and Allison Pearson touched the wall at 1:36.02 to set the record in the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Paige Howell, Vega, Taryn Dailey, and Pearson set two new KCAC relay records, setting a record in the 400 medley relay at 3:51.60 and then the record in the 200 medley relay at 1:46.06.
Briner, Carley Logan, Grace Barnhart, and Pearson notched the record in the 800 freestyle with a time of 7:45.97. Lastly, Pearson, Briner, Vega, and Megan Schroeder teamed up to complete the ONU sweep of the relays with a win in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:33.02.
Six different Tigers won individual conference titles on the women's side. Pearson helped ONU take the top three spots in the 200 IM. She won and set a conference record in 2:05.87 while Briner was second in 2:07.27 and Vega placed third in 2:07.55. Pearson then took the crown in the 400 IM with a time of 4:34.19.
Vega was the champion of both breaststroke events. She touched the wall first in the 200 breaststroke at 2:20.33 and then set the KCAC record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.84. Pearson was third in the latter at 1:03.41. Dailey took the titles in both butterfly events, winning at 2:06.55 in the 200 butterfly and going first at 55.97 in the 100 butterfly.
Katelyn Inman set a conference record in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall at 2:05.81 to win the event, while Howell finished second at 2:06.30. Howell then won the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.54, nearly breaking the conference record that she set last year (57.87). Abbie Christensen was the runner-up at 59.30.
The ONU men took the top spot in all five relays and set a conference record in one of them. Fries, Mason Beall, Timothy Braun, and Klenner teamed up to set the KCAC record in the 800 freestyle relay at 6:58.00. Porter Hoffman, Fries, Michael Quintana, and Braun touched the wall at 1:23.87 to win the 200 freestyle relay.
Braun, Fries, Hoffman, and Beall teamed up to win the 400 freestyle relay at 3:07.28. The quartet of Klenner, Peter Adams, Quintana, and Braun took the top spot in both medley relays, going first at 1:33.49 in the 200 medley relay and winning the 400 medley real at 3:24.13.
Similar to the ONU women, six different Tigers won individual conference titles on the men's side. Fries led a trio of Tigers in the top three spots of the 200 IM. He won in 1:52.77 while Liam Kuiper was the runner-up at 1:56.97 and Ethan Holwerda took third at 1:57.16. Fries then set a new KCAC record in the 200 freestyle, winning the event with a time of 1:41.02. Braun was third at 1:41.92.
Klenner set KCAC records in both backstroke events, touching the wall first at 51.11 in the 100 backstroke and winning the 200 backstroke at 1:49.38. Chase Aruskevicius was the conference runner-up in both of these events at 51.84 in the 100 and 1:53.30 in the 200.
Adams won conference crowns in both breaststroke events. He won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 57.55 before notching the top time in the 200 breaststroke at 2:07.08. Braun was the champion in the meet's shortest event, touching the wall at 20.97 to win the 50 freestyle. He was the only swimmer to clock in under 21 seconds. Hoffman was third in the event at 21.18.
Beall continued his dominance in the distance events, winning conference titles in the two longest individual races of the meet. He was the champion in the 500 freestyle at 4:42.32 and then took the top spot in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:35.27.
WHATS NEXT?
The Tigers will continue their postseason run at the NAIA National Championships, which will take place March 1-4 at the Columbus Aquatics Center in Columbus, Ga.
--ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu