2018 NAIA National Championships – Women’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 3; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
- Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Olivet Nazarene University (results)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Prelims
- Meet Record – 1:32.15: 3/7/2014, Oklahoma Baptist University (Galarza, Forbes-Milne, MacManus, Antonissen)
- Olivet Nazarene 1:36.28
- SCAD 1:37.14
- Cumberlands 1:37.19
- Lindsey Wilson 1:37.33
- Keiser 1:37.53
- College of Idaho 1:38.02
- Union College 1:38.98
- Loyola 1:39.53
Olivet Nazarene took a second off their seed time to post the fastest qualifying relay of the morning, going 1:36.28 with Leanne Latocha (24.08), Deirdre Gerke (24.40), Jordan Enders (24.27), and Andrea Vega (23.53). SCAD (Julie Henninger, Chloe Hui, Sara Lacusky, and Anne Weber Callahan), moved from 5th in the psych sheet to 2nd out of morning heats, improving their seed time by 1.5 seconds to 1:37.14. Cumberlands (Houston Burgoon, Katy Smeltzer, Mendy De Rooi, and Brittany Litke) finished just .05 back for the third-fastest time of the morning (1:37.19).
Lindsey Wilson’s Alexis Kessler anchored the Blue Raiders to the fourth spot with the fastest split of the morning, 23.29. Indiana Wesleyan freshman Emma Travis went 23.38 at the end of the Wildcats’ 9th-place relay.
Women’s 500 Yard Freestyle – Prelims
- Meet Record – 4:52.24: 2011, Alex Peters, Concordia
- Suzanna Gonzalez, Morningside 4:59.70
- Karla Islas, Olivet Nazarene 5:06.46
- Paige Carter, Loyola 5:06.53
- Deirdre Gerke, Olivet Nazarene 5:07.54
- April O’Gorman, SCAD 5:07.78
- Margaret Halloran, Milligan 5:09.44
- Shayna Salzman, SCAD 5:10.23
- Hope Clark, Asbury 5:10.86
2017 runner-up Suzanna Gonzalez of Morningside led the qualifiers in the women’s 500 free; she clocked a 4:59.70, slightly faster than her finals time from a year ago. ONU freshman Karla Islas improved her seed time by 8.5 seconds to qualify second with 5:06.46. Her teammate, senior Gerke, dropped even more, going nearly 13 seconds faster than her seed time to finish fourth in the morning with 5:07.54. Between them was Loyola sophomore Paige Carter, third out of morning heats with a best-by-7.5 time of 5:06.53.
Also qualifying for the A final were SCAD freshman April O’Gorman, Milligan freshman Margaret Halloran, SCAD junior Shayna Salzman, and Asbury freshman Hope Clark.
Women’s 200 Yard Individual Medley – Prelims
- Meet Record – 2:02.75: 3/5/2015, Christine Tixier, Biola
- Christina Klouda, Cumberlands 2:06.54
- Andrea Vega, Olivet Nazarene 2:07.21
- Sara Lacusky, SCAD 2:08.34
- Kendra Monnin, Wvu-Tech 2:08.37
- Cameron Klimczak, Cumberlands 2:08.57
- Rebecca Justus, SCAD 2:08.60
- Jessica Macdonald, Lindsey Wilson 2:08.85
- Annamaria Zombai, Keiser 2:09.25
2017 bronze medalist in both the 200 IM and 400 IM Christina Klouda, a junior at Cumberlands, crushed her morning swim, going 2:06.54 to lead the field heading into tonight’s final. ONU’s Vega qualified second with 2:07.21 ahead of last year’s runner-up, Lacusky of SCAD (2:08.34).
WVU-Tech’s Kendra Monnin, Cumberlands freshman Cameron Klimczak, SCAD senior Rebecca Justus, who was runner-up in the 400 IM and 4th in the 200 IM last year, and Lindsey Wilson sophomore Jessica Macdonald all qualified for the A final with 2:08s, while Keiser sophomore Annamaria Zombai clocked a 2:09.25 to qualify 8th.
Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle – Prelims
- Meet Record – 22.29: 2012, Cheyenne Coffman, Fresno Pacific
- Leanne Latocha, Olivet Nazarene 23.58
- Alexis Kessler, Lindsey Wilson 23.63
- Madison Kelly, College of Idaho 24.07
- Emma Travis, Indiana Wesleyan 24.10
- Olivia Salome, Union College 24.31
- Mendy De Rooi, Cumberlands 24.37
- Brittany Litke, Cumberlands 24.43
- Laura Stephenson, Lindsey Wilson 24.50
Given the splits coming out of the 200 free relays earlier in the session, it was a foregone conclusion who would make finals in the women’s 50 free. Indeed, there were few surprises. ONU’s Latocha notched a 23.58 to qualify just ahead of Lindsey Wilson’s Kessler (23.63). Madison Kelly from College of Idaho was third (24.07), followed by Indiana Wesleyan’s Travis (24.10). Union College senior Olivia Salome (24.31), De Rooi (24.37) and her teammate Litke (24.43) from Cumberlands, and Lindsey Wilson senior Laura Stephenson (24.50) comprised the rest of the A-final qualifiers.
Women’s 1-Meter Diving – Prelims
- Meet Record: 417.75 2005 Hayley Rosenlund, Simon Fraser
Women’s 400 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims
- Meet Record: 3:44.56: 2012, Fresno Pacific (Coffman/Malthaner/Moreno/Gjemmestad)
- Cumberlands 3:53.30
- Olivet Nazarene 3:55.53
- College of Idaho 3:56.06
- SCAD 3:56.71
- Keiser 3:58.17
- Brenau 3:59.12
- Lindenwood 4:01.74
- Asbury 4:02.66
Cumberlands (Klouda, Julia Hnidenko, De Rooi, and Litke) led the field by over 2 seconds, qualifying first for the 400 medley relay final with 3:53.30. Olivet Nazarene (Moran, Latocha, Kara DeLong, and Islas) came in second with 3:55.53. Third to the wall was College of Idaho (Deandre Small, Caroline Yannelli, Madison Kelly, and Hailie Mazick) with 3:56.06, a solid 5-second drop from their seed time.
SCAD (Cadie Crow, Alle Ragland, Lydia Reinhardt, and Hui) followed in fourth, about 4.5 seconds off their seed time with 3:56.71. The Bees didn’t use Lacusky in breast, however; she split 1:03.1 in this relay in last year’s final. Keiser, Brenau, Lindenwood-Belleville, and Asbury rounded out the top-8 from heats.
SOKA (15th), Bethel (16th), Life (18th), and St. Ambrose (24th) all had huge time drops in prelims.
“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.”
