Courtesy: SCAC Sports
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Trinity University led from start to finish and earned the program’s 18th consecutive conference title and 21st overall at the 2021 SCAC Women’s Swimming & Diving held at the Blossom Athletic Center.
The Texas Tigers finished with 1,029 points and put a bow on their crown in Saturday’s final event – the 400 free relay – by earning their fifth relay victory in as many events, touching first in a time of 3:30.31. The team of freshman Emma Hagain, junior Morgan Reyna, junior Maghan Magill and senior Megan Fowler posted the fourth-fastest time in SCAC Championship history to cap Trinity’s 21st championship in the sport. Only Trinity’s women’s soccer program and women’s tennis program with 23 conference titles each, have more SCAC titles. The Trinity men’s soccer program also has 21 SCAC titles to their name.
Following Trinity in the final standings was Southwestern University with 794 points, marking the second-straight year the Pirates have equaled their program-best finish. Colorado College finished third with 506 points, followed by Centenary College with 477 points. Austin College was fifth with 324 points, University of the Ozarks finished seventh with 275 points and McMurry University was eighth with 187 points.
The 1650 freestyle kicked off the morning action and Colorado College freshman Emma Phillips took top honors with a finishing time of 17:57.96. Trinity freshman Blythe Iverson finished with the silver medal in a time of 18:05.74 and sophomore Anabelle Conde, the defending champion in the event, finished third in a time of 18:29.78.
Following the mile, Trinity’s Fowler became the fourth consecutive SCAC woman to three-peat in the 200 back, taking her third consecutive title in the event in a time of 2:04.32. She follows Colleen Maggard of Centre (2010-2012), Olivia Dilorati of Colorado College (2013-2015) and Robyn Remschel of McMurry (2016-2018) in achieving the feat. Additionally, the victory was the 11th career win for Fowler, tying her with Sewanee’s Jane H. Chapman (1999-2002) for the most in conference championship meet history. Freshman Maysen Hauck of Southwestern was second in a time of 2:07.08 and junior Brianna Serret of Centenary placed third in a time of 2:08.02.
In the 100 free, Southwestern junior Jesse Stovall also three-peated, taking top honors in the event with a finishing time of 51.94. She is the fourth woman in SCAC history to touch first three times or more in the 100 free. In addition, the victory marked her eighth career SCAC title. Reyna of Trinity touched in a time of 53.00 to finish in second for the second consecutive year and her teammate, freshman Emma Hagan, was third in 53.07.
More history was made in the 200 breaststroke as Southwestern senior Rehgan Hartsell completed her career sweep of the event with a gold medal performance of 2:24.53 and touching first for the fourth consecutive year. The individual title was the 10th of her career, tying her with Katie Doogan of DePauw (2005-2008) and Elizabeth Land of Sewanee (2002-2005) for third all-time in championship meet history. Junior Jadyn Trahan of Trinity was second in a time of 2:25.22 and Centenary junior Kaylin Swoboda took bronze in a time of 2:26.84.
Freshman Caroline Myers picked up her first career SCAC individual title, placing first in the 200 fly in a time of 2:09.70. Sophomore Kate Brush of Colorado College, the defending champion of the event, placed second with a time of 2:12.92 and freshman Riley Hester of Colorado College was third in 2:13.60.
Trinity’s Fowler and Southwestern junior Jesse Stovall both won three events and shared SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Meet honors. In addition to the 200 back, Fowler won the 500 free on Thursday and the 400 IM on Friday. Prior to winning Saturday’s 100 free, Stovall won the 50 free on Thursday and the 100 fly on Friday. It marked the second time both had earned Swimmer-of-the Meet honors in their respective careers – Fowler won the honor last year and Stovall was Co-Swimmer-of-the-Meet as a freshman in 2019. Trinity junior diver Katarina Partalas was named Diver-of-the-Meet.
The diving portion of the competition concluded on Saturday afternoon as the women were on the 3-meter board. Trinity’s Partalas completed her sweep of both boards at the SCAC meet, taking the high board by a final score of 438.40. Her teammate, sophomore Gabi Fulk, was second with a score of 437.85 and Colorado College sophomore Peyton Classon was third with a score of 419.05.
The final team standings were as follows:
1) Trinity University – 1,029
2) Southwestern University – 794
3) Colorado College – 506
4) Centenary College – 477
5) Austin College – 324
6) University of the Ozarks – 275
7) McMurry University – 187
As has been the case with most collegiate competition this academic year, the 2021 championships were modified due to COVID-19 protocol. The meet itself was condensed from its normal four-day schedule to a three-day event. Additionally, the meet was conducted as two separate events with the women’s teams swimming in the early afternoon and men’s teams competing later in the afternoon. All heats were swam as timed finals with no preliminaries.