2020 NAIA Women’s Nationals: SCAD Leads Day 1; Program Record in 800 FR

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 One

Two-time defending champions Savannah College of Art and Design jumped out to an early lead in the women’s meet at the 2020 NAIA National Championships, scoring 40 points to lead the field on Day 1.

The first session in Knoxville consisted of timed finals of the 800 free relays. Tonight, the athletes will have a night off to attend the NAIA Nationals Banquet. They will be back in the water starting Thursday morning for three full days of  prelims/finals sessions.

Day One Results

Women’s 800 Yard Freestyle Relay – Timed Final

• Meet Record: 7:26.93, 2012, Fresno Pacific (Coffman / Turner / Gjemmestad / Carter)

Podium:

1. SCAD Savannah (Spencer Sheridan, Emily Elz, Isabella Song, Sloan Sizemore): 7:28.06
2. Keiser (Karina Braathen, Emma Sofie Augustsson, Stefania Sofouli, Ori Freibach): 7:30.60
3. Cumberlands (Mendy De Rooi, Maria Basto, Leah Thomas, M.E. Smith): 7:42.91

Top-seeded SCAD lived up to expectations with a solid win in the first event of the 2020 NAIA National Championship. The team made up of sophomores Spencer Sheridan and Sloan Sizemore and freshmen Emily Elz and Isabella Song crushed the program record of 7:29.82, set at 2017 NAIA Nationals, with 7:28.06. This is SCAD’s fifth consecutive title in the 800 free relay.

Splits:

• Spencer Sheridan – 1:51.24
• Emily Elz – 1:52.24
• Isabella Song – 1:52.57
• Sloan Sizemore – 1:52.01

Keiser’s relay featured 3/4 of last year’s third-place relay: sophomores Emma Sofie Augustsson (1:51.60), Stefania Sofouli (1:52.94), and Ori Freibach (1:53.17). Freshman Karina Braathen led them off with 1:52.89. Combined, the quartet went 9.34 seconds faster than last year’s team.

Third place went to Cumberlands (junior Mendy De Rooi, freshmen Maria Basto and M.E. Smith, and sophomore Leah Thomas. De Rooi led off with the fastest split of the morning, 1:50.89

The College of Idaho, seeded 5th in the event, suffered a disqualification.

Life University, Olivet Nazarene, and the College of Saint Mary all had better performances than their seedings and placed 6th, 7th, and 8th, respectively.

University of Saint Mary, while they did not score, swam their first-ever relay at NAIA Nationals and set a program record of 8:46.80.

Women’s Team Scores – Day 1

1. SCAD Savannah 40
2. Keiser University 34
3. University of the Cumberlands 32
4. Indiana Wesleyan University 30
5. Loyola New Orleans 28
6. Life University 26
7. Olivet Nazarene University 24
8. College of Saint Mary 22
9. Brenau University 18
10. Asbury University 14
11. Thomas University 12
12. Soka University 10
13. Lindsey Wilson College 8
14. St Ambrose 6
15. Midland University 4
16. Milligan College 2

Projected Standings

(Includes diving, distance free, and all relays from psych sheet)