GARLAND, Texas – The 17th-ranked Trinity University women's swimming & diving team kicked off the first of four days of action with an outstanding showing at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Wednesday.
The Tigers are seeking their 22nd consecutive SCAC Championship (25th overall) as the program has taken the top spot in the conference every year since 2004. After today's two relay events to start the meet, Trinity leads the field with 116 points. Southwestern University (TX) is second with 90 points, followed by Austin College (TX) in third place with 76 points, and University of the Ozarks (AR) is fourth with 72 points scored. Colorado College and Centenary College (LA) are tied for fifth with 62 points each, followed by McMurry University (TX) in seventh (56 points), and the University of St. Thomas (TX) in eighth (22 points).
This year's meet began in record-breaking fashion as Trinity set a new SCAC Meet record with a time of 1:44.02 in the 200-yard medley relay. The relay team of
Audrey Jacobson (Dallas, Texas / School for the Talent and Gifted),
Neely Burns (Phoenix, Ariz. / Thunderbird),
Allison Ortiz (Houston, Texas / Stratford), and
Amy Benson (Newmarket, N.H. / Phillips Exeter Academy) earned a "B cut" qualifying time for the NCAA Championships and moved from seventh to third on Trinity's all-time list. The team of
Jules Wiehrdt (Waco, Texas / Midway),
Marian Penry (Greenwood Village, Colo. / Regis Jesuit),
Rachel Brown (Flower Mound, Texas / Marcus), and
Julia Carter (Dripping Springs, Texas / Dripping Springs) also won the Consolation Final in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.08 that was the third-fastest overall time across both races and was just short of reaching the Tiger top 10 all-time.
Trinity came out on top of both races in the 800-yard freestyle relay as well, beginning with a Consolation Final time of 7:50.82 that turned out to be the third-fastest of the day. The relay team of
Ellie Devens (Houston, Texas / Tomball),
Erica Peterson (Lantana, Texas / Guyer),
Sienna Nordquist (Albuquerque, N.M. / Hope Christian), and
Diane Park (Beaverton, Ore. / Mountainside) only missed the second-best time by a mere 0.13 seconds. In the Championship Final, the Tigers once again turned in a "B cut" time of 7:31.18 to win the event. Burns, Jacobson, Carter, and Benson improved on their previous best by more than eight seconds and moved up to second in school history.
Coach Speak
"The women got off to a roaring start," exclaimed Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "All four relays were impressive, and we had so many places where we were better than last year. The momentum is rolling!"
Up Next
Trinity will continue the second day of action at the SCAC Championships with the swimming prelims tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m., followed by the finals at 6:00 p.m. Events on the schedule tomorrow include the 500-yard freestyle, the 200-yard individual medley, the 50-yard freestyle, and the 400-yard medley relay.
