Men's 400 Free Relay Sets School Record as Gardner-Webb Closes Strong on Final Day of 2014 CCSA Championship Meet
February 23, 2014 | Swimming
Knoxville, Tenn. - Gardner-Webb's men's 400 free relay team established another school record, Faith Kempf and Charity Byrum recorded Top 8 finishes in the 200 fly and 200 breast respectively, and Andy Watts placed 4th in meet-opening 1,650 freestyle on day four of the 2014 CCSA Championship meet.
Watts, a sophomore from Sarasota, Fla., picked up a 4th place finish in the men's 1,650 free, achieving the fastest time of his collegiate career to lead Gardner-Webb by finishing at 15:45.02. Fellow second-year Runnin' Bulldog Luke Denman (Greenville, S.C.) added a 6th place finish in the event, racing to a time of 15:55.30 in championship finals.
In the next event, Gardner-Webb got personal best performances from a pair of sophomores in the women's 200 back. April Niccolai (Naperville, Illinois) won the consolation finals heat in a personal best 2:02.16 and teammate Taylor Schwartz (Westerville, Ohio) placed 11th in the heat with a finals time of 2:03.68.
GWU took the top three spots in the consolation heat of the men's 200 back. Senior Taft Kallam (Randleman, N.C.) led the charge, finishing his Runnin' Bulldog career with a personal best time of 1:50.06. Senior Jordan Denmark (Raleigh, N.C.) took 10th in a season best 1:51.09 and freshman Connor Bos (Holland, Mich.) followed in 11th, racing to finish in a lifetime best 1:51.11.
Junior Mary O'Doherty (Charlotte, N.C.) stepped up for a personal best time during finals of the women's 100 free, finishing fast for a time of 51.63 to take 11th in the event. Junior Jenna Ballinger (Lexington, Ky.) moved up in finals to place 15th, achieving a season best time of 52.62 in finals.
In finals of the men's 100 free, sophomore Nathan Lile (Waynesville, N.C.) set his fourth individual school record of the meet, one he would break later in the night leading off the 400 free relay. Lile won consolation finals with a personal best time of 45.16, leading a pack of five Runnin' Bulldogs who qualified for consolation finals.
Freshman Hal McKay (Birmingham, Ala.) placed 12th (46.12) in finals, freshman Nicholas Dyer (Chesapeake, Va.) raced to a personal best time of 46.15 to take 13th, junior Joe MacGregor (Brooksville, Fla.) placed 15th (46.59) in finals, and senior Cole Hickey (Charlotte, N.C.) finished 16th (48.00) Saturday night.
A total of six Runnin' Bulldogs achieved personal best times in the men's 100 free. In addition to lifetime bests from Lile and Dyer in finals, McKay (45.69), MacGregor (46.13), Hickey (46.31), and Andrew Linzie (46.54) raced to personal best times in prelims of the event.
Junior Charity Byrum (Winston-Salem, N.C.) picked up a 5th place finish in the women's 200 breast, racing to a time of 2:20.02 in finals. Byrum achieved a season best time of 2:18.91 Saturday morning during prelims of the event. Senior Samantha Shelley (Wilmington, Del.) picked up a season best time of 2:23.56 in finals, good for 15th in the event.
Senior Phil Leonard (Greenville, S.C.) led the Runnin' Bulldogs in the men's 200 breast, winning consolation finals to place 9th in his final collegiate race thanks to a season best time of 2:07.24. Freshman Josh Hanson (Acworth, Ga.) placed 11th, racing home for a time of 2:09.14, and sophomore Ryan Palmer (Wrentham, Mass.) took 13th in a season best 2:13.42 in finals.
Josh "Peaches" Hanson shattered his personal best time in prelims of the 200 breast, achieving a time of 2:08.53 Saturday morning.
Senior Faith Kempf (Sterling, Kan.) raced to a Top 8 finish in championship finals of the women's 200 fly, placing 7th with a time of 2:04.32. Kempf closed her individual Runnin' Bulldog career with a personal best in the event after achieving a time of 2:03.48 in prelims.
Freshman Adél Kiss (Székesfehérvár, Hungary) made it three-for-three with a personal best in the 200 fly, finishing 16th with a time of 2:07:60. Kiss raced to best times in the 200 I.M., 400 I.M., and 200 fly on the weekend.
In the men's 200 fly, sophomore Tate Warden (Charleston, W.Va.) gave Gardner-Webb a 7th place finish after finishing at 1:52.59 in championship finals. Warden raced to a personal best time of 1:50.95 in prelims of the event to put a stamp on the best meet of his college career.
In the consolation final of the men's 200 fly, senior Cody Meyers (Mobile, Ala.) energized the Runnin' Bulldogs with a personal best time in his final race for Gardner-Webb. Meyers raced to a 10th place finish in the event, finishing with a lifetime best time of 1:53.82 in the event.
Gardner-Webb closed strong in both the women's and men's 400 free relays.
Giorgie Graves led off the women's race, sprinting to a personal best time of 51.5. O'Doherty swam the second leg in 51.6, Byrum split 52.3 on the third leg, and Kempf anchored in 51.6 for a 5th place finish in the women's 400 free relay with a combined time of 3:27.07.
The Runnin' Bulldogs closed the meet the way it started, achieving a school record time in the men's 400 free relay (3:01.1). Lile led off by breaking his own 100 free school record with a time of 44.9. McKay swam second, splitting 45.2 to keep GWU under school record pace. Dyer split 45.3 on the third leg, and MacGregor anchored in 45.6 on a relay that broke the previous record by over 2 seconds.
The Runnin' Bulldog women finished a record-breaking weekend in sixth place overall, while the Gardner-Webb men finished fourth in the standings over the four-day Championship meet.
| Final Results |
