2016 NAIA National Championships – Women’s Meet
- Dates: Wednesday, March 2 – Saturday, March 5, 2016; prelims 9 am, finals 5 pm
- Location: Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: Oklahoma Baptist University (results)
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
The 2016 NAIA Women’s Swimming and Diving National Championships began on Thursday morning with some strong swims from a wide variety of teams. Olivet Nazarene University, St. Andrews, The College of Idaho, and Thomas University all did significantly better than their psych sheet seedings, placing extra people in finals, or moving up into the top 8.
200 Medley Relay – Prelims
- Olivet Nazarene 1:46.14
- SCAD Savannah 1:46.33
- Biola 1:46.76
Deirdre Gerke (27.23), Andrea Vega (28.98), Whitney Whitehead (26.35), and Kelsey Weener (23.58) combined for 1:46.14 to earn the right to lane 4 in tonight’s final. SCAD Savannah clocked a 1:46.33 to qualify second, just ahead of Biola (1:46.76). With the top three teams all qualifying within .6 of each other, the championship final will be an exciting battle.
Brenau (1:47.16) and Lindsey Wilson (1:47.47) were just behind the top three, while The College of Idaho (1:49.25), St. Andrew (1:49.67) and Cumberlands (1:49.68) also made top eight.
500 Freestyle – Prelims
- Courtney Hayward, Brenau 4:59.67
- Caroline Lepesant, SCAD Savannah 5:00.06
- Emma McKinley, SCAD Savannah 5:02.76
Two-time defending champion Courtney Hayward of Brenau led the morning’s qualifiers for the 500 free final with 4:59.67. SCAD Savannah and Brenau were the big winners in the 500, earning 3 and 2 spots in the A final, respectively. Senior Caroline Lepesant led the Bees with the second-fastest morning swim of 5:00.06; her teammate Emma McKinley was just behind with 5:02.76. Freshman Abigail Richey qualified fifth with 5:04.90.
ONU freshman Andrea Vega was fourth with 5:04.55, ahead of Lindenwood freshman Simone de Rijcke (5:06.08), Biola senior Abby Blake (5:08.36), and Brenau sophomore Ella Kleineschmidt (5:08.93).
200 Individual Medley – Prelims
- Tiffany Ray, ONU 2:05.77
- Rebecca Justus, SCAD Savannah 2:06.02
- McKayla Stevens, College of Idaho 2:08.82
ONU junior Tiffany Ray demolished her seed time of 2:10.85 with a prelims swim of 2:05.77 to lead the qualifiers in the 200 IM. Not far behind was Rebecca Justus of SCAD with the second-fastest qualifying time of 2:06.02. McKayla Stevens of College of Idaho took nearly 3 seconds off her seed time to post a 2:08.82.
WVU Tech sophomore Kendra Monnin (2:09.19), freshman Christine Klouda of Cumberlands (2:09.63), Christina Ali of Biola (2:10.36), Brenau senior MK Jabbia (2:11.46), and Trinity Counter of St. Andrews (2:12.44) made up the rest of the top eight.
50 Freestyle – Prelims
- Heather Partlow, SCAD Savannah 23.65
- Lisa Tixier, Biola 23.76
- Julie Woody, SCAD Savannah 24.08
Senior Heather Partlow of SCAD Savannah went 1.3 seconds faster than her seed time to post the top time of the morning in the women’s 50 free. Top-seeded Lisa Tixier of Biola went 23.76 for the number two spot, while SCAD’s Julie Woody qualified third in 24.08.
ONU senior Kelsey Weener dropped .6 and made it back fourth, ahead of Wayland Baptist freshman Deandre Small (24.33), Ronnie Borders of Lindsey Wilson (24.34), College of Idaho freshman Maddy Kelly (24.44), and SCAD senior Shannon Cummings (24.46).
Ups/Downs – Day One
| Team | A/B Finalists |
| SCAD Savannah | 7/3 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | 3/3 |
| Biola University | 3/1 |
| Brenau University | 3/1 |
| The College of Idaho | 2/1 |
| University of the Cumberlands | 1/4 |
| West Virginia University Institute of Technology | 1/2 |
| Lindenwood University – Belleville | 1/1 |
| Lindsey Wilson College | 1/1 |
| St. Andrews University | 1/1 |
| Wayland Baptist University | 1/1 |
| Asbury University | 0/2 |
| Thomas University | 0/2 |
| Columbia College | 0/1 |
“The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small athletics programs that are dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five core values.”