UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (UAA) – MEN AND WOMEN
- Dates: Wednesday, February 12-Saturday, February 15, 2020
- Location/Host: Myers-McLoraine Pool, Ratner Athletics Center – University of Chicago
- Defending Champion: Emory women (21x); Emory men (21x)
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video (if available): Available here
- Championship Central
Courtesy: Emory Athletics
WOMEN
On the strength of four more conference titles, the Emory University women’s swimming and diving team extended their University Athletic Association lead Friday night at the Ratner Aquatics Center in Chicago, IL.
Through two nights of swimming events, the Eagles have compiled seven event championships and 16 All-UAA finishes. After holding a slim 7.5-point advantage after Thursday’s finals session, Emory now finds itself with a 175.5-point edge heading into the final day of action on Saturday. NYU stands second with 987 points with host Chicago in third at 981.
Senior Maria Turcanu and sophomore Taylor Leone followed up their strong performances from Thursday with more individual hardware on night three. Leone was an event winner in the 100 Butterfly, posting a pool record time of 55.15 and in the 200 Freestyle, Turcanu posted a title-winning time of 1:50.43.
Sophomore Edie Bates added an individual championship for the Eagles as she claimed gold in the 100 Breaststroke with a finals time of 1:04.17.
The fourth and final conference championship came during the final event of the evening with the relay team of Turcanu, junior Lucy Daro and sophomores Josie Uerling and Clio Hancock coasting to the win in the 800 Freestyle Relay with a winning mark of 7:29.25.
The Eagles nearly had a fifth UAA title on Friday in the 200 Medley Relay but the quartet of Bates, Leone, senior Caroline Olson and freshman Caroline Maki were denied by NYU in photo finish as the Violets touched first .10 seconds faster.
Adding All-UAA performances for the Eagles were Hancock (2nd, 4:20.73) and Uerling (3rd, 4:27.03) in the 400 IM, freshman Savannah Sowards in the 100 Butterfly (3rd, 55.89) and freshman Anna Glowniak in the 100 Breaststroke (3rd, 1:04.55).
MEN
Two more event championships headlined the Emory University men’s swimming & diving team Friday night at the UAA Championships in Chicago, IL.
Freshman Ryan Soh tallied the Eagles’ third individual title at the meet while the 800 Freestyle Relay team of junior Kellen Stillman, freshmen Jeffrey de Groot, Nicholas Goudie and sophomore Pat Pema earned the team’s first relay championship, doing so in UAA record-setting fashion.
Through two nights of action, Emory holds a 77.5-point lead on the field heading into the final night of competition. The Eagles sit in first with 1124.5 points followed by host Chicago at 1047 points with NYU trailing in third place at 857.
Soh earned the Eagles’ second straight win in the 100 Butterfly event as he turned in a finals time of 48.70. Soh was given everything he could handle in the closely contested championship, coming away with title over Chicago’s Martin Baffico by four one-hundredths of a second. The top four finishers in the heat were all separated by just .24 seconds.
The night ended on a high note with the 800 Freestyle Relay team registering Emory’s first conference record, men or women, at this year’s meet. The top three finishers all clocked in under the previous UAA record by it was Stillman, de Groot, Goudie and Pema setting the new UAA standard by more than four seconds at 6:36.42.
The Eagles added three more All-UAA finishes during the course of the evening, bringing the team’s two-day total to four UAA event titles, 10 All-UAA finishes and one UAA record. In the 400 IM, sophomore Zach Lorson claimed bronze with a finals mark of 3:56.73 while Pema came in under the previous UAA record in the 200 Freestyle, but finished third at 1:38.75. And in the 200 Medley Relay, Emory was denied in another dramatic finish as sophomores Colin LaFave, Tyler Russell, Hwa Min Sim and senior Sage Ono placed second at 1:29.17, just .16 seconds behind the team out of Chicago.
Emory looks to close out its 22nd consecutive UAA team championship Saturday as the meet concludes with the 1650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, men’s 1-meter diving and the 400 Freestyle Relay.
