Gardner-Webb Swimming Set For Big Weekend At The Fall Frenzy Invitational
November 20, 2014 | Swimming
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- The Gardner-Webb University swim team will compete in this weekend's three-day Wingate Fall Frenzy Invitational, which will be a great opportunity to test itself against some elite swimming competition.
Wingate University will host this weekend's Invitational, which is used as a pre Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Championship (CCSA) event. The format used this weekend (prelims/finals), will be the same format used in February's CCSA Championship meet in Athens, Ga.
The Preliminaries will start everyday at 10:00 a.m. and the finals will be swam at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Similar to the CCSA Championships later on in the season, relays will be an integral component of the meet, which will all be swum during the night session.
Ten teams will be competing in the Fall Frenzy Invitational this weekend, including four school's that are nationally ranked, headlined by the No. 2 ranked Queens University. Carson-Newman University (receiving votes in the latest poll), Limestone College, Georgia Southern University, College of Charleston, Pfeiffer, UNC Asheville, University of West Florida, Mars Hill College, St. Andrews, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Catawba College (#19.
The Runnin' Bulldogs have been impressive so far this fall and have received great swims from their seniors all the way down to the freshman.
Gardner-Webb's Senior class has done a great job of leading the way throughout the way, as Charity Byrum, Mary O'Doherty, and Brandon Searle has showed great leadership in helping the freshmen adjust to collegiate swimming, as well as their performances during the meets.
Byrum's best meet so far this fall came in the dual meet against UNC Asheville and Marshall where she took first in the 100 breast (1:05.06) and the 200 breast (2:23.43), and swam in the 400 free relay (3:34.27) that also finished in first place. Look for Byrum to have solid swims in the 200 IM, 100 breast, 200 breast, and relays this weekend.
A number of GWU's best performances so far this season have resulted from its strong junior class, which is highlighted by Nathan Lile who was named the CCSA's Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 7. Lile's best meet of the Fall was the CCSA North Invite where he swam to four first place finishes and three second place finishes. Other junior swimmers that are poised to do well this weekend are; Tate Warden (500 free, 200 free, 1650 free, 200 fly), April Niccolai (200 IM, 100 back, 200 back), and Giorgie Graves (100 fly, 100 free, and an instrumental part of all 5 relays).
Connor Bos and Adel Kiss headline a sophomore class that have experienced a collegiate swimming season, and now know what to expect. Bos has gotten stronger as the season has progressed and swam one of his best meets of the season in the dual meet against Queens where he finished second in two events (200 medley relay, 100 back) and third in the 50 free. Similar to Bos, Kiss has improved as the season has gone along with her best performance coming in the the team's most recent event, the Wingate Quad Meet, where she took third in both the 200 IM, and 200 free relay, and fourth in the 400 medley relay.
The Runnin' Bulldogs freshmen class has turned in solid performances all season, and continues to get better. Lauren Oglesby turned in one of her best performances this season in the dual meets against UNC Asheville and Marshall where she swept the distance events, placing first in both the 500 and 1,000 yard freestyles. Toth, a freshman from Hungary, has taken her international experience from the National Championships in her native country, and translated it to the Gardner-Webb swim team. Toth has showed she is a versatile swimmer, putting together top performances in all four strokes, as evidenced in the CCSA North Invite where she finished first in the 200 free relay, 400 free relay, second in the 200 IM, 400 medley relay, and 200 free, and third in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.
Gardner-Webb will return to competition on Dec. 4 when it competes in the three-day USA Swimming Winter Nationals.
