LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The 2013 Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Swimming & Diving
Championships will be held February 13-16 at the Rockwall
Independent School District Natatorium in Rockwall, Texas.
It is the second consecutive year that the conference meet will be
held at the Rockwall ISD.
Trinity University is the defending champion on the women’s
side. The Tigers earned their ninth consecutive SCAC women’s
swimming and diving title with a convincing 999-690 point victory
over second-place Centre College. Colorado College placed third
with 528 points.
Trinity University head coach John Ryan returns
all six of his swimmers who earned All-SCAC honors in 2012.
Sophomore Lydia Jones placed third in both the 50 and 100 free and
second in the 200 free at last year’s conference championship
meet. Heading into this year’s championship, she has swam the
fastest times in the league this season in the 100 free (54.65),
200 free (1:57.84) and 500 free (5:15.28) and the second-fastest
time in the 50 free (25.11). She was selected SCAC
Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 3. Junior Melanie Gustafson was an
All-SCAC swimmer in three events last season, including an
individual victory in the 400 IM. Currently, she trails only Jones
with her time in the 500 free (5:15.86) and has the fastest time in
the 1650 free (17:57.34) and the second-fastest time in the 400 IM
(4:45.82) in 2012-13. Senior Mary Price is back to defender her 100
butterfly title and is on track to do just that as she has posted
the league’s fastest time in that event this season (59.17).
Junior Meghan Varner earned All-SCAC honors in 2012 in both the 100
and 200 butterfly with third and second place finishes,
respectively, and senior Ana Price returns after a third-place
All-SCAC performance in the 100 backstroke last year. Sophomore
Kelly Horton, who finished third in the 100 breaststroke last
season, currently has the best time in the league in that event
(1:08.74) as well as the second-fastest time in the 200
breaststroke (2:34.26). The foursome of Jones, Holton, M. Price and
senior Jennifer Ince swept the 200 and 400 medley relays at the
2012 championships and will be among the favorites at this
year’s meet. Another swimmer expected to provide an impact
performance is first-year swimmer Kara Beauchamp, who has been
selected SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week twice this season (Week 1 and
Week 8). Beauchamp has posted the best time this season in four
events: the 200 breaststroke (2:28.58), 200 butterfly
(2:10.10), 200 IM (2:12.97) and 400 IM (4:37.05). The Tigers return
two All-SCAC divers in senior Ruth Hahn and junior Kathryn Sheldon.
Hahn, the defending national champion in the 3-meter board, has
earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Meet honors at the last two conference
championships and was SCAC Diver-of-the-Week in Week 1. Sheldon won
the 1-meter board at the 2012 championships. Senior Madison Kahler,
the SCAC Diver-of-the-Week in Week 3, will try to make it an
All-SCAC sweep for the Tigers for the third consecutive year on
both boards.
Colorado College, who joined the conference prior
to the 2007 season, posted its highest finish ever with a
third-place finish at the 2012 conference championships. The
Tigers return one All-SCAC performer in junior Brenna Day. Day won
the 100 free last season, finished second in the 50 free and third
in the200 free. Her best 50 free time this season (25.18) is
currently the third-fastest in the league. First-year swimmer
Olivia Dilorati has been impressive for Coach Anne Goodman
James’ squad. The SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 5,
Dilorati has the second-fastest 100 backstroke (1:02.04) and
fourth-fastest 100 butterfly (1:01.01) times in the league this
season. First-year swimmer Codi Haigney will be a contender in the
distance races (200, 500 and 1650 free) and fellow freshman Megan
Gillespie should contend in the 200 breaststroke, 100 and 200
butterfly and 200 and 400 IM. The Tigers return three-fourths of
their All-SCAC 400 free relay team from a year ago in Day and
sophomores Abby Sawyer Emma Holmes. On the boards, senior diver
Nicole Fazio – a three-time SCAC Diver-of-the-Week this
season – will try to crash Trinity’s All-SCAC party on
both the 1- and 3-meter boards.
Centenary College head coach Butch Jordan will
count on several different swimmers to score as his Ladies make
their SCAC championship meet debut. Junior Michelle Gaubert, the
SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 2, along with senior Laura Huning
will both compete in the sprints (50 free, 100 free) and senior
Hayley Schneider will be strong in the 100 and 200 free –
having posted top five times in both events this season. Schneider
also currently sports the league’s third-fastest 200 IM time
(2:16.70) in 2012-13. Sophomore Christy Wolterman will vie for
All-SCAC honors in the 500 free and 1650 free as will senior Laura
Huning in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Huning currently has the
second-fastest times in the SCAC this season in both events (59.37
and 2:13.40, respectively). Junior Rachel Olson has posted the
second and third-fastest times, respectively, in the 200 IM
(2:15.47) and 400 IM (4:52.20).
After a sixth-place team finish in 2012 under first-year head
coach Jon Duncan, Southwestern University is
looking for continued improvement in 2013. Sophomore Emily Haskell
earned All-SCAC honors in the 100 breaststroke last season and has
posted the second-fastest time in the event (1:10.53) this season.
Haskell, who earned SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week honors in Week 7, also
has the third-fastest time in the 200 breaststroke this season
(2:35.04). Junior Mara Weidmann pushes Haskell in both events and
has the league’s fourth-fastest 200 breaststroke time this
season (2:39.18). Also returning is junior Sarah Alpini, who was a
member (along with Haskell) of the Pirates’ All-SCAC 200
free, 400 free and 200 medley relay teams of a year ago. Senior
Sarah McCausland and sophomore Emmy Gradisar are both coming off
strong performances in the team’s last regular season meet
against Centenary College.
Austin College, looking to improve upon its
eighth-place finish from a year ago, may have found an anchor to do
just that. First-year swimmer Lauren Wheeler has been re-writing
the Austin College record book all season and currently sits among
the league’s best in several events heading into the 2013
championship meet. Wheeler, the SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 4,
has the best 50 free time (25.02), second-fastest 100 free (54.67)
and 200 backstroke (2:13.45) times and the fourth-best 400 IM time
(4:54.76). Her Swimmer-of-the-Week award was the first for an
Austin College female swimmer since 2006. Head coach Brian Wright
will also look to seniors Maggie Autry and Dory Johnson and junior
Anne Booker to score for the ‘Roos.
Competition at the 2013 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships
begins on Wednesday, February 13 with the men’s 1-meter
diving at 8 p.m. CST. The swimming portion of the competition
begins on Thursday, February 14 with morning preliminaries at 10:30
a.m. and finals following at 6:30 p.m.
For a complete schedule of events, go the official website of the 2013 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships:
http://www.scacsports.com/sports/mswimdive/2013championships/index
