2017 NAIA National Championships: Women’s Day 4 Live Recap

2017 NAIA National Championships – Women’s Meet

• Dates: Wednesday, March 2 – Saturday, March 5, 2017; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
• Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Olivet Nazarene (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Women’s Fan Guide
• Live Results: Available here
• Live Video: Available here
• Championship Central

Following last night’s races, the margin between Olivet Nazarene and SCAD has gotten even tighter, with 24 points separating the two NAIA powerhouses. The ONU Tigers have the lead. SCAD is really hurting in the mile, typically a strong event for them, but they have no swimmers entered this time around.

After this morning’s performances (see predictions below), the women of Olivet Nazarene are likely to win the meet for the first time in team history.

Biola, much to the credit of leading woman Lisa Tixier, sits solidly in third with 257. Lindsey Wilson in fifth place with 172 points will have to reach to challenge Brenau, fourth with 203, and, they’ll also have to fight to hold off a challenge from the Cumberlands (161) and the College of Idaho (141).

1650 Free – Finals

• Meet Record: 16:43.37 2007 Kathryn Rosberg

1. Courtney Hayward, Brenau: 17:19.77
2. Sierra Rhodes, ONU: 17:26.38
3. Suzanna Gonzalez, Morningside: 17:27.77

Courtney Hayward of Brenau, last year’s runner-up, won a victory in the 1650 free by five and a half seconds, finishing in 17:19.77.

The race for second was tighter, as Olivet Nazarene’s Sierra Rhodes took on Morningside’s 500 runner-up Suzanna Gonzalez. Gonzalez held the lead through the 1300 mark, when Rhodes started to edge up. Rhodes ended up second, finishing in 17:26.38, followed by Gonzalez in 17:27.77.

Keiser’s Jane Lev dropped forty seconds off her seed time to take fourth in 17:30.34, followed by Union College’s Lara Kaufmann in 17:46.16.

Emily Wood was sixth in 18:04.29, and Chloe Ireland came up from the slower heats this morning to take seventh in 18:08.14. Monica Hoo of Thomas rounded out the top eight in 18:15.40.

200 Back – Finals

• Meet Record: 1:58.20 2012 Cheyenne Coffman, Fresno Pacific

1. Amanda Moran, ONU: 1:56.87
2. Megan Monahan, Columbia College: 2:00.69
3. Tiffany Ray, Olivet Nazarene :2:03.73

Amanda Moran, a junior out of Olivet Nazarene set a huge NAIA record in the 200 back tonight, breaking the record 1:58.20 set by NAIA great Cheyenne Coffman by well over a second. Her swim tonight would have been fast enough to get second at NCAA Division II Championships or NCAA Division III Championships last year. Moran split 27.40/29.38/30.08/30.01 to take over three seconds off her winning 1:59.32 from last year.

Second went to Megan Monahan of Columbia College, who moved up two placements from her fourth place last year. She finished in 2:00.69 to outswim the next swimmer by three seconds. Third was Tiffany Ray of Olivet Nazarene in 2:03.73

Fourth and fifth went to last season’s ‘A’ finalists Christina Klouda of the Cumberlands (2:05.86) and Cydney Donnelly of Columbia College (2:06.88).

100 Free – Finals

• Meet Record: 49.33 2012 Cheyenne Coffman, Fresno Pacific

1. Julie Woody, SCAD: 49.24
2. Lisa Tixier, Biola: 50.42
3. Madison Kelly, College of Idaho: 51.67

Another big Cheyenne Coffman record fell tonight, this time in the 100 free, as SCAD senior Julie Woody swam 49.24 in the 100 free. Woody outswam the old mark by .09. Her splits were 23.85/25.39.

Woody outswam Lisa Tixier of Biola finished second in 50.42. College of Idaho’s Madison Kelly was third in 51.67. SCAD’s Abigail Richey finished fourth in 52.34, fifth place went to freshman Jessica Macdonald of Lindsey Wilson with 52.55.

200 Breast – Finals

• Meet Record: 2:14.90 1993 Laurette Hakansson

1. Sara Lacusky, SCAD: 2:17.53
2. Andrea Vega, Olivet Nazarene: 2:18.31
3. Ronni Borders, Lindsey Wilson: 2:19.83

SCAD sophomore Sara Lacusky completed her 100-200 breaststroke sweep tonight, taking the 200 breast in 2:17.53. She came in .78 ahead of defending runner-up Andrea Vega of Olivet Nazarene, who grabbed second in 2:18.31. Last year’s third-place finisher Ronni Borders of Lindsey Wilson took third again this year with 2:19.83.

Fourth was Alle Ragland of SCAD with 2:23.95, followed by Ines Khiyrara of Lindsey Wilson with 2:24.29 and SCAD freshman Emilia Rittenbach with 2:25.62.

200 Fly – Finals

• Meet Record: 2:00.89, 3/7/2015, Christine Tixier, Biola

1. Lydia Reinhardt, SCAD: 2:03.53
2. Rebecca Justus, SCAD: 2:07.16
3. Samantha Dammann, Biola: 2:08.31

SCAD scored major points in the women’s 200 fly, coming up within a 13-point margin of the leading Olivet Nazarene. This probably won’t be enough to win them the national title (barring a DQ for ONU in the upcoming 400 free relay), but this race was important for the Bees.

Freshman Lydia Reinhardt of SCAD took the the win by over three seconds with 2:03.53. She split 27.52/30.90/32.20/32.91. Her junior teammate Rebecca Justus finished second in 2:07.16, splitting 28.72/31.92/32.92/33.90. Justus held the lead throughout over third-place Samantha Dammann of Biola, who finished in 2:08.31.

Fourth went to Olivet Nazarene senior Hayley Ronci with 2:08.56. SCAD scored even more points with junior Cadie Crow‘s fifth-place 2:09.74.

400 Free Relay – Finals

• Meet Record: 1:02.09 – 2012 Catherine Duquet

1. SCAD: 3:25.11 (Julie Henninger, Sara Lacusky, Julie Woody, Abigail Richey)
2. Olivet Nazarene: 3:29.52 (Deirdre Gerke, Tiffany Ray, Amanda Moran, Andrea Vega)
3. Biola, 3:31.81 (Haley Baker, Bethany Harper, Emily Silzel, Lisa Tixier)

SCAD’s Julie Henninger (52.23), Sara Lacusky (51.97), Julie Woody (49.15), and Abigail Richey (51.76) teamed up to win the 400 free relay by a huge, nearly four-second margin.

Second went to Olivet Nazarene’s Deirdre Gerke (52.92), Tiffany Ray (52.66), Amanda Moran (52.02), and Andrea Vega (51.92) in 3:29.52.

Biola swam their way to third, with a huge anchor leg from Lisa Tixier, who split 50.08. Swimming with Tixier were Haley Baker (54.83- flat start), Bethany Harper (53.57), and Emily Silzel (53.33).

Other big splits came from College of Idaho’s Madison Kelly (flying start 51.62) and Lindsey Wilson freshman Jessica Macdonald (flying start- 51.61).

Final Scores

In a tight battle with defending champion SCAD, Olivet Nazarene came away with the NAIA title, eking out 6.5 points ahead of the Bees. Second went to Biola, followed by Brenau and Lindsey Wilson.

1. Olivet Nazarene University 639
2. SCAD 632.5
3. Biola University 343
4. Brenau University 264
5. Lindsey Wilson College 257
6. University of the Cumberlands 238
7. College of Idaho 207
8. Columbia College 137
9. Lindenwood U- Belleville 113
10. Asbury University 106
11. West Virginia University-Tech 104
12. St Andrews University 88
13.  Keiser University 81
14. Loyola New Orleans 76
15. Union College 72
16. Morningside College 70
17. Soka University 53
18.  Thomas University 51
19. Wayland Baptist University 27
20. Campbellsville University 10
21.  Life University 5.5
22. Tabor College Bluejays 4
23. Milligan College 2