Liberty University
CCSA Swimming and Diving Championships
Lady Flames Move Up to 2nd Midway Through CCSA Championships
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Liberty moved into second place in the women's team standings after a high-scoring second day, Thursday at the 2015 CCSA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship.
With two days remaining in the championships, the defending champion Lady Flames are in second place with 461 points after scoring 349 points on Thursday. FGCU remains in first place with 626 points, a total which includes 152 diving points. Incarnate Word is in third, at 407, while Georgia Southern (383.5) and Gardner-Webb (340.5) are fourth and fifth, respectively.
On the day, the Lady Flames posted 14 lifetime-best swims, three NCAA B cuts, nine A finals swims and two podium finishes (one individual, one relay).
The Lady Flames took fourth, fifth and seventh in the 500 free A final, with senior Emily Duff swimming a lifetime-best 4:53.72 in the A final for fourth. Junior Kristin VanDeventer placed fifth in a season-best 4:53.89 after qualifying first in 4:54.19. Junior Hannah Wakeley took seventh with a 4:55.66 clocking. Freshman Sarah Browning came in 15th overall by swimming 5:07.34 in the B final.
Liberty junior Victoria Tschoke swam a lifetime-best 2:02.56 in the 200 individual medley A final, pocketing her second fourth-place conference finish in this event. Freshman Prudence Rooker placed sixth in 2:03.36. Alona Kyselova of Incarnate Word won in a meet, conference-record and NCAA B cut 2:00.28. Freshman Rachel Wasko swam a personal-best 2:03.10 to place 10th overall. Junior Ranndi Grubbs went 2:05.43 for 17th, while Danielle Boothe's 2:09.81 placed 24th.
Junior Kendall Hough swam a then lifetime-best 22.93 (NCAA B cut) to place third in the 50 free A final. Seniors Cori Gary and Meghan Babcock tied for fifth at 23.03, while Rachel Hoeve finished eighth in 23.16. Freshman Kendall Hart (23.71), senior Chloe Thomas (23.85) and freshman Chelsea Pond (23.74) finished in 15th through 17th, in that order. FGCU's Emma Svensson became the first CCSA swimmer to break 22 seconds, winning in 21.98.
Florida Gulf Coast won the 200 free relay in a conference, meet-record and NCAA B cut time of 1:29.78. Liberty placed second, as Hough, Hoeve, Gary and Babcock went 1:30.29, the second-fastest 200 free relay in program history. Hough led off in 22.92, lowering her NCAA B cut by .01.
VanDeventer posted the top qualifying time in the 500 free prelims, swimming 4:54.19. Wakeley swam a lifetime-best 4:55.61 to qualify third. Duff (5:00.24) joined VanDeventer and Wakeley in the A final with a seventh-place qualification. Browning clocked a season-best 5:04.18 in preliminary heats, making the B final with a 12th-place showing.
Rooker placed second in 200 IM qualifying, with a lifetime-best 2:02.83. Tschoke followed in sixth with a 2:03.86. Wasko swam a then personal-best 2:04.95 to make the B final in 12th position. Grubbs tied for 19th in prelims at 2:07.11, while Boothe also made the C final in a lifetime-best 2:09.09. Senior Jennifer Garzinski swam her top 200 IM time of the season, 2:10.25.
Liberty had an impressive showing in the 50 free, as Gary placed second in qualifying by tying her lifetime best (NCAA B cut 22.87). Babcock swam a B cut time of 22.97 for fourth, while Hoeve swam a lifetime-best 23.04 for sixth and Hough tied for seventh with a then lifetime-best 23.10. Hart clocked her best time, 23.47, to qualify 13th, while Thomas' season-best 23.68 was good for 16th. Pond qualified in 17th with a lifetime-best 23.71, while Sall placed 27th overall in a best time of 24.34. Freshman Rachel Rippey swam a personal-best 23.98 while classmate Sydney Archuleta also swam a best time, 25.32.
In one-meter springboard diving, freshman Madi Long scored 184.95 points as an exhibition athlete.
The Lady Flames are in second place going into Friday's day three action, which begins at 10 a.m. with preliminary heats of the 400 individual medley. Friday's program will also feature the 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 back and 400 medley relay.
