Gardner-Webb Women's Swimming Rises to Take First Place on Final Day at Wingate Fall Frenzy
November 19, 2012 | Swimming
Charlotte, N.C. - Individual wins from Charity Byrum and Giorgie Graves on Sunday night sealed a come-from-behind win for Gardner-Webb women's swimming at the Wingate Fall Frenzy.
GWU (821) was able to pull away thanks to a strong showing on day three, using its depth to pull away from 2nd place College of Charleston (728.5), 3rd place Queens (652), and 4th place Georgia Southern (647).
Gardner-Webb got off to a great start Sunday night thanks to a 2nd place showing in the 1650 free from freshman Madi Dinsmore. Dinsmore (New Ipswich, N.H.) finished with a time of 17:20.79, recording her fastest time this season in the event with her second Top 2 individual finish of the weekend.
Senior Kristen Michal (Katy, Texas) added a season best time of 18:07.64 in a signature performance for her career as a Runnin' Bulldog.
In the 200 back, the Gardner-Webb women showed off depth in what proved to be a strong event. Freshmen April Niccolai (Naperville, Ill.) and Taylor Schwartz (Westerville, Ohio) led the way, finishing 3rd (2:04.66) and 6th (2:06.15) respectively while attaining season best times. Sophomore Jenna Ballinger (Lexington, Ky.) took 7th in a season best 2:06.79, sophomore Kaylee McCallan (Melbourne, N.C.) swam a personal best 2:05.92 to take 9th, and senior Laurenn Singleton (Elkin, N.C.) swam to a 13th place finish in a season best 2:09.33.
Senior Liz Van Halsema (Charlotte, N.C.) won the 'B' final in the 100 free to finish 9th, racing to a season best time of 53.59. Ballinger added an 11th place showing in a season best 53.97, and freshman Alaina Mattix (Logansville, Ga.) finished 15th after achieving a time of 54.72 in prelims of the event.
GWU got a win in the 200 breast, as sophomore Charity Byrum (Winston-Salem, N.C.) pulled away for a 1st place finish and a season best time of 2:20.49. Sophomore Samantha Shelley (Wilmington, Del.) took 5th in 2:24.48 (prelims), sophomore Jessica Robinson (Aiken, S.C.) was 11th in 2:27.74, senior Michelle Palacio (Charlotte, N.C.) finished in 2:28.00, and junior Anna Springer (Snellville, Ga.) was 13th with a time of 2:28.87 in another strong event for GWU.
Giorgie Graves added her second win of the weekend, making it two wins in a row for the GWU women. The freshman from Riverview, Fla. won the 200 fly, finishing with a season best time of 2:04.67 to move up two spots during finals.
Junior Faith Kempf (Sterling, Kan.), freshman Sarah Singleton (Elkin, N.C.), and freshman Christina Clayton (Brentwood, Tenn.) also scored for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the 200 fly, scoring times of 2:07.84 (4th), 2:11.13 (9th), and 2:15.94 (13th) respectively.
In the 400 free relay, GWU was able to close the night with a 3rd place finish, securing a season best time of 3:30.78. Graves (52.49), Byrum (53.04), Kempf (52.69), and Ballinger (52.63) combined to record GWU's best performance of the season to date.
Gardner-Webb women's swimming turns its attention to its winter training schedule prior to returning to meet action in January. GWU's next meet comes at College of Charleston January 18-19.
| Final Results |
