2019 NAIA National Championships – Women’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, February 27 – Saturday, March 2; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
- Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: SCAD Savannah (results)
- Psych Sheets: Available here
- Fan Guides: Available here
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
Day Three
Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims
- Meet Record: 1:41.40, 2012, Fresno Pacific, Fresno Pacific (Coffman/Malthaner/Swanson/Brown)
- Keiser – 1:45.81
- Cumberlands – 1:47.13
- College of Idaho – 1:47.90
- Indiana Wesleyan – 1:49.16
- Arizona Christian – 1:49.60
- Brenau – 1:49.96
- SCAD – 1:50.13
- Lindenwood-Belleville – 1:50.22
Olivet Nazarene, the team champion in 2017 and runner-up in 2018, has been struggling this year so it was even more significant that their 200 medley relay, which won national titles in 2017 and 2018, was disqualified. SCAD, meanwhile, barely qualified for the A final, adding 4 seconds to their seed time to place 7th out of morning heats; the Bees will swim in lane 1 tonight.
Top-seeded Keiser landed the top performance of the morning with 1:45.81 from junior Meagan Abad (27.07) and freshmen Ori Freibach (29.33), Amanda Stromberg (26.07), and Emma Sofie Augustsson (23.34).
Cumberlands, who finished 4th in 2018, posted the second-fastest time of the morning, 1:47.13, from senior Christina Klouda (27.77) and sophomores Julia Hnidenko (30.01), Mendy De Rooi (24.78), and Houston Burgoon (24.57).
The College of Idaho, 6th last year, went 1:47.90, 3.65 seconds faster than their seed time, with swims from Madison Kelly (27.17), Caroline Yannelli (30.08), Reina Watkins (26.27), and Maya Murphy (24.38).
Women’s 400 Yard Individual Medley – Prelims
- Meet Record: 4:24.03, 1993, Laurette Hakansson, Drury
- Karla Islas, Olivet Nazarene – 4:31.82
- Christina Klouda, Cumberlands – 4:33.97
- Paige Carter, Loyola New Orleans – 4:34.11
- Kiana Molina, Thomas – 4:35.84
- Kaylen Hou, SCAD – 4:36.01
- Annamaria Zombai, Keiser – 4:37.69
- Nikoletta Alvanou, Brenau – 4:37.71
- Abigail Tankersely, SCAD – 4:48.80
Top-seeded ONU sophomore Karla Islas who only missed the meet record by .39 last year when she won the event with 4:24.42, qualified first with 4:31.82. With the exception of two freshmen from SCAD, Kaylen Hou (5th qualifier) and Abigail Tankersely (8th), every member of tonight’s final swam in the 2018 A final. Hou dropped nearly 10 seconds and Tankersely took 3/10 off her seed time to make the top-8.
Cumberlands senior Klouda placed 3rd last year; this year she qualified 2nd with 4:33.97, 4 seconds off her seed time. Loyola junior Paige Carter was 2.8 seconds faster than her seed time and will swim in lane 3 tonight.
Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Prelims
- Meet Record: 53.70, 2017, Lisa Tixier, Biola
- Mendy De Rooi, Cumberlands – 56.42
- Sydney Darnell, Indiana Wesleyan – 56.69
- Madison Kelly, College of Idaho – 56.90
- Anna Herbst, Keiser – 57.08
- Lydia Reinhardt, SCAD – 57.45
- Katy Smeltzer, Cumberlands – 58.10
- Kamryn Gallowich, Keiser – 58.20
- Claire Goodrum, Asbury – 58.30
2018 runner-up De Rooi of Cumberlands stopped the clock at 56.42 to lead the qualifiers in the women’ 100 fly. She was seeded 1st with 54.67. Indiana Wesleyan freshman Sydney Darnell, who came in to the meet with the #2 seed time (56.43) swam the second-fastest time of the morning, 56.69.
Madison Kelly of the College of Idaho took 7/10 off her seed time to qualify 3rd for finals. She finished 6th in this event a year ago. Keiser secured 2 spots in the championship final with freshman Anna Herbst and junior Kamryn Gallowich. Cumberlands will also occupy two lanes tonight. Senior Katy Smeltzer dropped 1.3 from her entry time to qualify 6th. Last year’s 4th-place finisher, junior Lydia Reinhardt of SCAD, added a half-second to qualify 5th in 57.45.
The biggest time drop came from Asbury senior Claire Goodrum, whose 58.30 morning swim was 3.25 seconds better than her seed time. Goodrum finished 11th last year with 58.44 in the B final.
Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Prelims
- Meet Record: 1:49.58, 2011, Alex Peters, Concordia
- Spencer Sheridan, SCAD – 1:53.23
- Jessica Axford, Union College – 1:53.58
- Jessica Macdonald, Lindsey Wilson – 1:53.79
- Julie Henninger, SCAD – 1:53.87
- Shayna Salzman, SCAD – 1:54.17
- Sarah Dostie, SCAD – 1:55.08
- Hope Clark, Asbury – 1:56.05
- Ulrike Tovilla, Loyola New Orleans – 1:56.56
For the second year in a row, SCAD made a big statement in the 200 free. This year the Bees placed 4 swimmers in the A final and 2 in the B final; last year they had 5 A-finalists. Freshman Spencer Sheridan led the way for SCAD with 1:53.23, the morning’s top time. Defending champion Jessica Axford, a sophomore from Union, put up 1:53.58. Axford has been 1:51.26 this year and had the top seed time coming into the meet. Lindsey Wilson junior Jessica Macdonald, who finished 4th a year ago, placed 3rd this morning with 1:53.79.
Next to qualify were the SCAD trio of seniors Julie Henninger, Shayna Salzman and Sarah Dostie.
Asbury sophomore Hope Clark and Loyola New Orleans freshman Ulrike Tovilla both added 6/10 but made it into the last two slots in the A final. Keiser fell further out of the chase for the national championship when freshmen Ori Freibach and Stefania Sofouli added in prelims and missed the A final; they had been seeded 6th and 4th, respectively.
Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims
- Meet Record: 1:02.09, 2012, Catherine Duquet, SCAD
- Andrea Vega, Olivet Nazarene – 1:03.82
- Sara Lacusky, SCAD – 1:05.04
- Vikte Labanauskaite, Arizona Christian – 1:05.66
- Caroline Yannelli, College of Idaho – 1:05.73
- Kirsten Coetzee, Life University – 1:05.93
- Julia Hnidenko, Cumberlands – 1:06.26
- Yanne Toussaint, Brenau – 1:06.55
- Anna Martens, Lindenwood-Belleville – 1:06.80
ONU senior Andrea Vega and SCAD senior Sara Lacusky have traded wins in the 200 IM, 100 breast, and 200 breast. Vega emerged victorious in the 200 IM final last night, and this morning she had the fastest qualifying time by 1.2 seconds. Vikte Labanauskaite of Arizona Christian qualified 3rd in 1:05.66, which was 1.2 seconds off her seed time.
Of the rest of the 2019 championship finalists, two swam in last year’s A final (Idaho’s Caroline Yannelli and Cumberlands sophomore Julia Hnidenko) and three were in last year’s B final (Life’s Kirsten Coetzee, Brenau’s Yanne Toussaint, and Lindenwood-Belleville’s Anna Martens). SCAD junior Emily Rozar, who placed 8th in the A final last year, did not final this year.
Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Prelims
- Meet Record: 52.76, 2012, Cheyenne Coffman, Fresno Pacific
- Allie Rassenfoss, SCAD – 57.29
- Lindsay Dowling, Brenau – 57.69
- Anna Herbst, Keiser – 57.99
- Meagan Abad, Keiser – 58.14
- Margaret Halloran, Milligan – 58.42
- Kamryn Gallowich, Keiser – 58.45
- Julie Henninger, SCAD – 58.71
- Sara Farmer, Milligan – 59.10
SCAD freshman Allie Rassenfoss dropped .65 to lead the qualifiers in the 100 back. 2018 runner-up Lindsay Dowling of Brenau (57.69) and a pair of backstrokers from Keiser, Anna Herbst and Meagan Abad, were next to the wall this morning. Milligan’s Margaret Halloran, 5th in this event last year, dropped 1.1 from her seed time to qualify 5th.
Women’s 3 Meter Diving
- Meet Record: 444.81, 1987, Cynthia Miller, Wisconson-Milwaukee
- Andrea Adam, St Ambrose 228.05
- Taylor Madison, St Ambrose 174.30
The divers from St. Ambrose posted the top 3-meter diving scores of the morning. Andrea Adam, who won 1-meter diving on Thursday, was the top diver with 228.05 over teammate Taylor Madison.
“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”
