Graves Wins 500 Free, 100 Fly to Lead GWU Women's Swimming to 2nd Place Team Finish at Wingate Quad Meet
November 03, 2013 | Swimming
Charlotte, N.C. - Gardner-Webb women's swimming achieved a 2nd place team finish in the women's team standings after Saturday's session, ending the two-day invitational with 864.5 points at the November 2-3 Wingate Quad Meet.
Gardner-Webb finished Friday's session in 2nd place (402.5 points). The host team, Wingate, earned a 1st place standing (467) after day one, while Washington & Lee (250), Catawba (205.5), and Lenoir-Rhyne (131) rounded out the top 5 Friday.
GWU earned a 2nd place finish in the women's 200 freestyle relay to open the meet. Mary O'Doherty (25.15), Jenna Ballinger (25.44), Maria Seward (25.01), and Faith Kempf (24.39) teamed up for a time of 1:39.99, and GWU also achieved 4th place in the event with a time of 1:44.02 from the quartet of Caroline Andrews (25.67), Christina Clayton (25.07), Allie Petersen (26.80), and Kristina Nork (26.48).
The Runnin' Bulldogs put three in the top four of the women's 200 I.M. Junior Charity Byrum led the way, placing 2nd with a time of 2:12.12, while senior Faith Kempf and sophomore April Niccolai followed in 3rd and 4th after finishing in 2:13.36 and 2:14.22, respectively.
Sophomroe Giorgie Graves raced to a 1st place finish in the women's 500 free, outpacing the field to win in a season best 5:07.76. Freshman Adél Kiss finished 6th for Gardner-Webb with a time of 5:14.96, and junior Jenna Ballinger tacked on an 8th place showing (5:17.63) in the event.
Gardner-Webb stayed on top in the women's 100 breast, getting a 1st place showing from Byrum (Winston-Salem, N.C.), who recorded her second top 2 finish Friday night with her performance. The junior finished raced to a time of 1:05.71, and GWU also achieved 4th place in the 100 breast thanks to Samantha Shelley's 1:10.90 clocking.
Niccolai (Naperville, Ill.) cracked to top 3 individually for the second time on the night in the women's 200 back, achieving a season best time of 2:09.70 in helping GWU score valuable points. Junior Kaylee McCallan placed 6th (2:11.21) and Kempf (Sterling, Kan.) took 7th (2:11.45).
In the women's 100 free, sophomore Caroline Andrews paced Gardner-Webb with an 8th place finish and a time of 55.84. Junior Mary O'Doherty finished at 55.88, good for 9th place in the event.
Graves (Riverview, Fla.) notched a 2nd place finish in the women's 200 fly, leading GWU with a time of 2:10.77. Graves, who was edged by Wingate 1st place finisher Julie Wessler (2:10.15), was joined in the top 5 by Kiss (Székesfehérvár, Hungary) and sophomore Christina Clayton, who finished 4th (2:14.56) and 5th (2:15.96), respectively.
In Friday's final event, the women's 400 medley relay, GWU took second place with a time of 3:57.93, just .40 behind Wingate's 'A' squad in a tight race to close the night. Niccolai (1:00.16), Byrum (1:06.48), Graves (58.17), and Kempf (52.76) teamed up for the 2nd place finish.
GWU opened Saturday, the second day of competition, with a win in the women's 200 medley relay. McCallan, Byrum, O'Doherty, and Kempf teamed up for the first place finish in 1:47.54.
In the women's 1000 free, sophomore Allie Petersen led the Runnin' Bulldogs, achieving a 9th place finish and a time of 11:25.75. Junior Kristen Ellison added a 12th place showing, finishing in 11:45.42.
Clayton (Brentwood, Tenn.) tied for 1st in the women's 50 free with Wingate's Ana Fish. The sophomore raced to a time of 24.93, and O'Doherty (Charlotte, N.C.) teamed up with Andrews (Hillsborough, N.C.) to give GWU 4th (25.16) and 5th (25.35) in the event.
In the women's 100 back, sophomore Kaylee McCallan (Melbourne, Fla.) placed 2nd to lead GWU, finishing with a time of 59.08. Niccolai and sophomore Taylor Schwartz (Westerville, Ohio) finished in 6th (1:00.89) and 8th (1:01.94) for the Runnin' Bulldogs, respectively, in the event.
Byrum swam 2:26.62 in the women's 200 breast, leading the team with a 2nd place finish. Seniors Samantha Shelley (Wilmington, Del.) and Kristina Grayson (Charlotte, N.C.) added 6th (2:31.24) and 8th (2:35.05) place finishes in the event, respectively.
Graves picked up her second win of the weekend in the women's 100 fly. The sophomore raced to a season best time of 56.98 to win the event by over two seconds, and was joined in the top 5 by Kempf (3rd, 1:00.11) and O'Doherty (4th, 1:00.47).
In the women's 200 free, Gardner-Webb went 3-4-5. Kiss led the way with a time of 1:57.41, Graves took 4th in 1:57.97, and Ballinger raced to a season best time of 1:58.54.
Niccolai led GWU in the women's 400 I.M., achieving a 3rd place finish with a time of 4:43.03. Grayson tacked on a 10th place showing after touching the wall at 4:58.55.
The Runnin' Bulldogs closed Saturday night with a win in the women's 400 free relay, as Graves (53.47), Kiss (54.20), Byrum (54.78), and Ballinger (54.27) teamed up to close the meet on a winning note.
Gardner-Webb returns to action Saturday, November 9 to host the VMI Relay meet.
| Full Results - 2013 Wingate Quad Meet |
