Gardner-Webb Women's Swimming Impresses at Virginia Tech Sprint Invite on Saturday
October 20, 2012 | Swimming
Christiansburg, Va. - Swimming a day after its win at the VMI/UNCA Relay Meet (Friday night), Gardner-Webb's women's swim team put up a number of noteworthy performances at Saturday's Virginia Tech Sprint Invite.
The meet included the host Virginia Tech Hokies of the ACC, as well as two CCSA opponents in the Liberty Flames and the VMI Keydets.
Freshman Giorgie Graves (Riverview, Fla.) recorded the fastest time of her collegiate career in the 200 free, finishing in a team-high second place in the event with a time of 1:54.13. Following in 7th was sophomore Jenna Ballinger (Lexington, Ky.), who finished in 1:58.42 for GWU.
Graves, who earned conference Swimmer of the Week honors after her performance at the season-opening All-N.C. Invite, added another 2nd place finish in the 100 free, closing fast for a time of 52.83. Clayton (9th, 55.91) and Van Halsema (10th, 55.93) also recorded top 10 finishes for GWU in the event.
In the meet-opening 400 medley relay, Gardner-Webb was led by the quartet of Laurenn Singleton, Charity Byrum, Graves, and Alaina Mattix. GWU's top relay in the event took 5th with a time of 3:59.43.
A freshman led the Runnin' Bulldogs in the 1000 free, as New Ipswich, N.H. native Madi Dinsmore gave GWU a 4th place finish after recording a time of 10:54.18. Senior Kristen Michal (Katy, Texas) followed in 5th, finishing in 11:14.61.
Byrum (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led the Gardner-Webb women in the 50 breast. The sophomore took 4th in the event (30.17), and was followed by sophomore Jessica Robinson (9th, 33.73) and senior Michelle Palacio (10th, 34.04).
Byrum also led GWU in the 100 I.M., closing fast to finish 5th with a time of 1:01.28. Kempf and Samantha Shelley (Wilmington, Del.) followed for GWU, finishing 8th (1:03.13) and 9th (1:03.32) in the event.
Singleton, a senior from Elkin, N.C., gave GWU a 5th place finish in the 50 back, leading the team with a time of 28.11. Sophomore Kaylee McCallan (Melbourne, Fla.) and Liz Van Halsema (Charlotte, N.C.) also finished with top 10 finishes in the event, timing in at 28.58 (8th) and 29.41 (10th) respectively.
Gardner-Webb also put three in the top 10 of the 200 fly. Junior Faith Kempf (Sterling, Kan.) led the Runnin' Bulldogs in the event, finishing 5th with a time of 2:12.01. Freshman Sarah Singleton (Elkin, N.C.) was next for GWU, recording the fastest 200 fly time of her collegiate career at 2:16.42. Dinsmore was 10th, also recording her collegiate best after finishing in 2:17.46.
Mattix, a freshman from Loganville, Ga., led Gardner-Webb in the 50 free, finishing 9th with a time of 25.12. Fellow freshman Christina Clayton (Brentwood, Tenn.) sprinted to a time of 25.23 in the event, good enough for 10th overall.
Gardner-Webb scored 5th and 6th place finishes in the 200 medley relay. Laurenn Singleton, Byrum, Graves, and Clayton got GWU its top finish with a time of 1:50.05, with Byrum's 50 breast split time (30.00) representing the fourth fastest of the meet. McCallan, Samantha Shelley, April Niccolai, and Annie Bosacco combined to take 6th with a time of 1:53.61.
Three GWU women cracked the top 10 in the 500 free, with Michal's 7th place finish (5:31.83). Freshmen Caroline Andrews (Hillsborough, N.C.) and Kristina Nork (Parkland, Fla.) followed in 8th place (5:36.28) and 9th (5:40.64) respectively.
Freshman Taylor Schwartz (Westerville, Ohio) led GWU in the 200 back, using her fastest collegiate time to finish 7th at 2:11.75. Niccolai followed in 8th with a time of 2:12.33, and Ballinger took 10th in 2:13.25.
Robinson, a sophomore from Aiken, S.C., finished a team-high 6th in the 200 breast, finishing with a time of 2:34.24. Palacio took 7th in the event with a time of 2:34.54, and Nork finished 10th at 2:41.42.
Graves led GWU in the 50 fly, taking 7th with a time of 26.31. Fellow freshman Susan Ward (Abilne, Texas) was 9th in the event with a time of 27.36, and Laurenn Singleton was 10th after finishing in 27.76.
Van Halsema, Palacio, and sophomore Kristen Ellison (Cary, N.C.) finished with times of 4:44.34, 4:52.47, and 5:01.40 to take 6th, 7th, and 8th in the event respectively.
Gardner-Webb closed out the meet with a 5th place finish in the 400 free relay. Mattix led off in 55.67, Byrum swam second in 55.10, Kempf swam third in 55.79, and Ballinger anchored in 55.47 to give the Runnin' Bulldogs the fifth place finish in the event.
GWU's women's swim team is back in action on the weekend of November 2-3 for the Wingate Quad Meet in Charlotte N.C. Friday's session is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m., with Saturday's session set for 3:00 p.m.
