Trinity Women Continue to Lead the 2014 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championship

ROCKWALL, Texas -- Trinity University continued to grow its lead following Day Three of the 2014 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships. The Tigers now lead second-place Colorado College by 147 points heading into Saturday's final session. Official Website | Friday's Complete Results | Team Scores | Video Recap

Following three individual wins in five events, Trinity expanded its lead and sits in first-place with 592 points. Colorado College collected both an individual and a relay title and enters the final day with 445 points. Rounding out the standings, University of California-Santa Cruz is third with 358 points, Southwestern University is fourth with 305 points, Centenary College is fifth with 256 points and Austin College is sixth with 96 points.

Trinity sophomore Kara Beauchamp made it 4-for-4 in career IMs at the SCAC championships, winning the 400 IM in a SCAC championship meet record time of 4:27.40, which was also good for a NCAA 'B' cut. Beauchamp has now won all five career SCAC races and Friday night's win in the 400 IM was her second of this championship. She set a new SCAC 200 IM mark Thursday evening. Trinity senior Melanie Gustafson was second in the 400 IM in a time of 4:34.24 and Colorado College sophomore Megan Gillespie was third in 4:34.25. Both joined Beauchamp in setting NCAA 'B' cut standards.

After finishing third a year ago, sophomore Olivia Dilorati of Colorado College won the 100 butterfly in a NCAA 'B' cut time of 56.45. Senior Rachel Olson of Centenary was second and her finishing time of 57.73 was also good for a NCAA 'B' cut. Senior Megan O'Rell of Trinity was third in a time of 59.33.

Next up was the 200 free and Trinity junior Lydia Jones picked up her second straight SCAC championship win in the event, completing the course this year in a time of 1:53.39. Her time was good for a NCAA 'B' cut. Her teammate, sophomore Leah Selznick, finished second with a time of 1:57.35 and senior Brenna Day of Colorado College was third in a time of 1:58.05.

Junior Emily Haskell of Southwestern University also defended her 100 breaststroke title, defeating the field in a finishing time of 1:06.23. First-year swimmer Krystal Feri of UC-Santa Cruz was a close second in a time of 1:06.58 and sophomore Jackie Nonweiler of Colorado College was third in 1:07.50. 

The final individual event of the evening saw Trinity sophomore Becca Bond earn the program's first win in the 100 back since Stephanie Walla in 2004. Bond traversed the course in a time of 58.62 to squeak past Austin College sophomore Lauren Wheeler who was second in 58.89. First-year swimmer Madison Doty of Southwestern placed third in a finishing time of 59.61. 

Friday's evening session wrapped up with the always exciting 200 freestyle relay. The Colorado College team of Dilorati, Erin Holmes, Zoe Pierrat and Day gave the Tigers their third relay win of the 2014 championships as the quartet broke the SCAC championship meet mark with a finishing time of 1:36.64. Trinity University (Rachel Berude, Jones, Kate Bommer and Selznick) was second in a time of 1:38.32 and Southwestern University (Doty, Haskell, Makaylee Frederick and Blythe Nava) finished third at 1:40.16.

Competition comes to a conclusion on Saturday with preliminaris beginning at 10:30 a.m., and finals at 6:30 p.m. A special senior recognition will precede the finals and is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. Click here for the complete schedule of events.