2020 NAIA Women’s Nationals Day 3 Prelims: SCAD Remains in Strong Position

2020 NAIA Women’s Swimming & Diving National Championship

• Dates: March 4-7, 2020
• Times: Prelims 9 AM; Finals 5 PM
• Location: Allan Jones Aquatic Center – Knoxville, Tennessee (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: SCAD Savannah (2x) (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results: Available here
• Live Video: Available here
• Championship Central

Day Three

Keiser had a strong morning but SCAD continued to perform according to expectations, leaving little room for the Seahawks to pull off an upset.

Friday morning results

Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims

• Meet Record: 1:41.40 Fresno Pacific, Fresno Pacific (Coffman/Malthaner/Swanson/Brown) 2012

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. SCAD 1:45.85
2. Keiser 1:45.99
3. Life 1:48.28
4. IWU 1:48.73
5. Olivet Nazarene 1:48.88
6. Cumberlands 1:49.46
7. Brenau 1:50.75
8. Asbury 1:51.02

SCAD led the field by .14 in prelims of the 200 medley relay, as Allie Rassenfoss (27.04), Isabella Song (29.43), Lydia Reinhardt (25.85), and Sloan Sizemore teamed up to produce a 1:45.85. Top-seeded Keiser used Meagan Abad (26.69), Ori Freibach (29.32), Noelia Garzon (25.77), and Karina Braathen (24.21) and came in second with 1:45.99. Keiser won the 400 medley relay by 1.7 seconds over SCAD last night. The Seahawks will likely swap out Abad, Garzon and Braathen for Emma Sofie Augustsson, Anna Herbst, and Elianna Kennon in tonight’s final.

Life University placed third with a 1.6-second drop from their seed time to go 1:48.28 in heats. Dóra Reizinger (27.55), Lillian Thurbur (30.45), Greta Gonzalez (26.54), and Nathália Bento (23.74) contributed to the effort. Gonzalez is the only sophomore on the relay; the other three are freshmen.

Other notable drops in prelims came from Olivet Nazarene (-4.2 seconds), Asbury (-.3), Bethel-Indiana (-2.2), Westmont (-.5), Midland (-.9), Soka (-.5), College of St Mary (-.2), St Ambrose (-.03), Union (-.5), Bethel-Kentucky (-.7), The Masters University (-3.4), University of St Mary (-4.4), Campbellsville (-.6), Point (-.7), and Williams Baptist (-2.4). Bethel-Indiana, Westmont, The Masters, and Williams Baptist are all new teams to the NAIA Championship this year.

Women’s 400 Yard Individual Medley – Prelims

• Meet Record: 4:24.03 Laurette Hakansson, Drury 1993

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Karla Islas, Olivet Nazarene 4:30.47
2. Paige Carter, Loyola 4:37.38
3. Kaylen Hou, SCAD 4:38.47
4. Annamaria Zombai, Keiser 4:39.20
5. Nikoletta Alvanou, Brenau 4:39.97
6. Gaja Kristan, Keiser 4:40.15
7. Linnea Holmgren, IWU 4:41.26
8. Anna Lofton, Keiser 4:42.26

ONU junior Karla Islas, who won this event in each of the last two years, took her spot at the head of the list qualifiers with a dominant 4:30.47 in prelims. Paige Carter of Loyola New Orleans, last year’s runner-up, went 4:37.38 to qualify second. SCAD’s Kaylen Hou qualified third with 4:38.47, a year after placing 6th in the 2019 final.

Keiser placed three swimmers in the A final: Annamaria Zombai, Gaja Kristan, and Anna Lofton. That’s a big improvement from 2019 when Keiser was shut out of the A final (Kristan and Lofton were B-finalists). Nikoletta Alvanou of Brenau and Linnea Holmgren of Indiana Wesleyan rounded out the top 8 qualifiers. Alvanou finished 8th last year while Holmgren was 14th.

Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Prelims

• Meet Record: 53.70 Lisa Tixier, Biola 3/3/2017

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Mendy De Rooi, Cumberlands 55.71
2. Anna Herbst, Keiser 55.82
3. Sydney Darnell, IWU 55.98
4. Thea Brandauer, SCAD 56.84
5. Noelia Garzon, Keiser 57.15
6. Lydia Reinhardt, SCAD 57.75
7. Anna Lofton, Keiser 58.09
8. Emily Jacobson, CSM 58.22

Defending champion Mendy De Rooi of University of the Cumberlands put up the fastest time of the morning in the 100 fly with 55.71. She will be challenged tonight by Herbst of Keiser (55.82) ad Sydney Darnell of Indiana Wesleyan (55.98).

Keiser also placed Garzon and Lofton in the A final, picking up 11 points over their psych sheet seeding for this event. SCAD answered with Thea Brandauer and Reinhardt. The last spot in the A final went to Emily Jacobson of the College of Saint Mary.

College of Idaho butterflyers Anna Cook and Reina Watkins dropped 1.3 and 2.3 seconds, respectively, to make the B final, while Soka’s Sophia Greko took 1.7 off her seed time to snag the 16th qualifying spot.

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Meet Record: Meet Record: 1:49.58 Alex Peters, Concordia 2011

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Spencer Sheridan, SCAD 1:52.04
2. Sloan Sizemore, SCAD 1:52.19
3. Karina Braathen, Keiser 1:52.46
4. Stefania Sofoulis, Keiser 1:53.41
5. Emma Sofie Augustsson, Keiser 1:54.12
6. Jessica Macdonald, Lindsey Wilson 1:54.16
7. Emily Elz, SCAD 1:54.85
8. Elianna Kennon, Keiser 1:55.41

Spencer Sheridan of SCAD, who won this event by .02 last year, led the 200 free qualifiers with 1:52.04. Teammate Sloan Sizemore went 1:52.19 to qualify second. Keiser’s Braathen led four Seahawks into the A final with 1:52.46. She will be joined tonight by teammates Stefania Sofoulis, Augustsson, and Kennon. Braathen and Sofoulis dropped 1.1 seconds each, and Kennon improved by .9, to make the top 8. Sheridan and Sizemore, meanwhile, will swim with their teammate Emily Elz in the final. Lindsey Wilson senior Jessica Macdonald will be the sole non-SCAD/Keiser A-finalist. She finished 3rd in 2019, 5th in 2018, and 7th in 2017.

Ulrike Tovilla, Melanie Dunnuck, and Andrea Van Den Berg of Loyola New Orleans improved their respective seed times by 1.2, 0.4 and 2.1 seconds to qualify for the B final. Hope McNair of Thomas dropped 2.7 seconds, Keiser’s Alvsaker improved by .4, and SCAD’s Chloe Hui went .2 better than her entry time. All three will swim again tonight in the B final.

Idaho’s Watkins, swimming in her second event in a row, dropped 3.85 seconds to finish 18th.

Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims

• Meet Record: 1:02.09 Catherine Duquet, SCAD 2012

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Isabella Song, SCAD 1:04.04
2. Ori Freibach, Keiser 1:04.31
3. Ali Sippel, SCAD 1:04.99
4. Lillian Thurber, Life 1:05.23
5. Vivienne Kunkler, Bethel-Indiana 1:05.60
6. Julia Hnidenko, Cumberlands, 1:05.81
7. Sarah Scargill, SCAD 1:05.98
8. Hannah Springer, Asbury 1:06.27

SCAD freshman Isabella Song went 1:04.04 to notch the top time out of heats. Keiser’s Freibach, who chose the 200 free over this event last year, dropped 3 seconds to qualify second with 1:04.31. Another freshman from SCAD, Ali Sippel, improve her seed time by .5 to land in 3rd with 1:04.99. The Bees earned a third spot in the top 8 when sophomore Sarah Scargill dropped .4 to finish 7th.

Life freshman Thurber (-.2), Bethel-Indiana’s Vivienne Kunkler (-.8), Julia Hnidenko of Cumberlands, and Hannah Springer from Asbury (-.3) also qualified for the A final.

Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke – Prelims

• Meet Record 52.76 Cheyenne Coffman, Fresno Pacific 2012

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Allie Rassenfoss, SCAD 57.27
2. Maria Basto, Cumberlands 57.46
3. Dóra Reizinger, Life 57.65
4. Nerissa Wagner, Midland 58.13
5. Anna Herbst, Keiser 58.26
6. Emma Sophie Augustsson, Keiser 58.30
7. Kamy Alexander, Loyola 58.40
8. Yanne Toussaint, Brenau 58.49

SCAD sophomore Rassenfoss clocked a 52.27 to top the field in the 100 back prelims. That is .15 better than her 4th-place time in last year’s final. Cumberlands freshman Maria Basto went nearly 1.1 seconds faster than her seed time to qualify second in 57.46. Life’s Reizinger improved her entry time by .2 to post the third time with 57.65.

Midland’s Nerissa Wagner, 11th in 2019, was only .05 off her seed time, qualifying 4th in 58.13. Defending champion Herbst of Keiser, and her teammate Augustsson, qualified 5th and 6th. Herbst won with 57.0 last year and Augustsson went 57.2 leading off Keiser’s winning relay last night.

Loyola New Orleans junior Kamy Alexander took .4 off her seed time to qualify 7th and Yanne Toussaint of Brenau went a tick better than her entry to grab the 8th spot. Soka’s Greco had another big swim to make a B final; this time she dropped 1.5 seconds to land in 13th. Maggie Halloran of Milligan (-.45), Kaylen Hou of SCAD, and Bethany Anderson of St Ambrose all dropped time in prelims and will swim in tonight’s B final.

Women’s 3 Meter Diving

• Meet Record: 444.81 Cynthia Miller, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1987

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Andrea Adam, St Ambrose 251.10
2. Abby Miller, Cumberlands 220.30
3. Maddy Christenson, Lincoln 210.00
4. Teagon Albert, Olivet Nazarene 198.55
5. Taylor Madison, St Ambrose 188.30
6. Courtney Simpson, The Masters University 166.45

Andrea Adam of St Ambrose outscored the field on the 3-meter board. After winning her third consecutive 1-meter diving title on Thursday night, Adam will be attempting to repeat that feat on the 3-meter board in tonight’s final.

Women’s Team Scores – Day 2

1. SCAD Savannah 293.5
2. Keiser University 160
3. University of the Cumberlands 145
4. Olivet Nazarene University 137
5. Indiana Wesleyan University 102
6. Life University 98
7. Brenau University 86
8. Loyola University New Orleans 68
9. Asbury University 64
10. Ambrose University 57
11. The College of Idaho 50
12. Arizona Christian University 33
13. Lindsey Wilson College 31
14. Soka University 28
15. College of Saint Mary 24
16. The Master’s University 23
17. Bethel University (IN) 22
18. Lincoln College 16.5
19. Thomas University 14
20. Milligan College 11
21. Westmont College 10
22. Thomas Moore University 9
23. Midland University 8