Knoxville, Tenn. - Gardner-Webb raced to All-Conference performances in both the women's 800 free relay and the men's 200 medley relay and established new school records in both the men's and women's 800 free relays on a blazing opening night of a revamped CCSA Championship format.

For the first time since the Conference's inception in 2007, the CCSA instituted a four-day format for its 2014 Championship meet, with the men's and women's 800 free and 200 medley relays competed on opening night.

Gardner-Webb swimming enjoyed the best night of 800 free relays in program history.

Tate Warden, Nathan Lile, Hal McKay, and Nicholas Dyer broke a school record and took 4th in the men's 800 free relay, and Giorgie Graves, Faith Kempf, Jenna Ballinger, and Adél Kiss teamed up to place 3rd, earning All-Conference honors in school record fashion.

GWU got the meet off to a great start in the men's 800 free relay, turning in a 4th place finish in breaking a three-year old record by over twelve seconds with a final time of 6:42.12.

"Tater Tot" Warden, a sophomore from Charleston, W.Va., got the record-breaking men's 800 free relay going, leading off with a personal best 200 free time of 1:40.24. In addition to recording a personal best time with the swim, Warden also recorded the second-fastest 200 free time in Gardner-Webb history.

Lile, a sophomore from Waynesville, N.C., swam the second leg and became the first Runnin' Bulldog to break the 1:40 barrier on an 800 free relay. Lile started fast to record a split time of 1:39.92.

McKay (Birmingham, Ala.) hit the water next, splitting the fastest time of his career on the team's third leg. The freshman split 1:40.94 in the race.

Dyer (Chesapeake, Va.) anchored the 800 free relay, bringing the squad home with a personal best split time of 1:41.02. The freshman put the finishing touches on a school record performance: the quartet ended with a time of 6:42.12 to place 4th in the event.

In the women's 800 free relay, Gardner-Webb again turned in a school record and All-Conference performance of 7:27.93 to finish 3rd, as Graves, Kempf, Ballinger, and Kiss combined to go nearly five seconds under a seven-year old record 800 free record.

Graves (Riverview, Fla.) led off in 1:50.58, getting the squad started with a personal best time. The sophomore shattered her previous best (1:52.05) in helping GWU shatter the 800 free relay record on opening night.

Kempf (Sterling, Kan.), a senior, dove in next, finishing her race strong to record a 200 free split of 1:51.60, also a personal best.

Ballinger (Lexington, Ky.) swam the third leg in 1:52.27, keeping the momentum going by splitting her fastest 200 free time of the season.

Kiss (Székesfehérvár, Hungary) anchored, finishing off the record-breaking performance with a personal best split time of 1:53.48.

Gardner-Webb closed the night with an All-Conference performance in the men's 200 medley relay. Connor Bos, Jordan Denmark, Matt Anderson, and Cole Hickey raced to a 3rd place finish and a final time of 1:29.49.

Bos (Holland, Mich.) sprinted to get the relay going, leading off with a split time of 22.82. The freshman's performance marked a new personal best and added to a breakout freshman campaign.

Denmark, a senior from Raleigh, N.C., stepped up to record a personal best 50 breaststroke split of 25.40, keeping the relay moving near school record pace.

Anderson, also a senior, swam 21.63 in the 50 fly. The Fortaleza, Brazil native achieved a personal best split time in the race, just eclipsing his previous best (21.64) achieved during last year's school record performance at CCSA's.

Hickey (Charlotte, N.C.) closed, sprinting to a school record relay split of 19.64 on the anchor leg in bringing the squad home to record the second fastest 200 medley relay time in school history. Hickey's split was the fastest in the event.

Just off last year's record (1:29.32), the 200 men's medley relay squad turned in an All-CCSA performance for the 7th year in a row.

Gardner-Webb's men's and women's swim teams will look to build off a record-breaking opening night, continuing CCSA Championships with day two prelims starting tomorrow morning. Fans of Gardner-Webb and CCSA swimming can follow all the action via the updated live results and live video links located above.