Courtesy: Liberty Athletics
After helping Liberty to a 216-137 win over Marshall on the weekend, Lady Flames sophomores Maddie Freece and Chloe Harris have been honored by the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) with weekly honors.
Harris was named CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Week, while Freece was tabbed CCSA Women’s Diver of the Week. This is the fifth time in program history that Liberty has received both CCSA weekly awards in the same week, and first since Jan. 26, 2021, when Payton Keiner (swimmer) and Lauren Chennault (diver) swept the awards.
Freece and Harris helped Liberty extend its dual-meet winning streak to 11 with a win over Marshall.
A native of Denver, N.C., Harris receives her first career CCSA Swimmer of the Week honor. She won the 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 butterfly and 1000 freestyle at Marshall, becoming the first Lady Flame since Prudence Rooker at the 2016 Intermountain Shootout to win four events at a single meet. This weekend, she swam the fastest time by any CCSA swimmer in the 200 IM (2:07.96), 400 IM (4:26.40) and 200 butterfly (2:04.56).
Hailing from Lansdale, Pa., Freece has been named CCSA Diver of the Week for the second time in her career (also Oct. 27, 2020). Freece helped Liberty’s divers outscore Marshall’s divers a combined 28-10 on the weekend, winning three-meter diving and taking second on one-meter in her first appearance of the season. She edged Marshall’s Alaina Laster by 0.15 points for the win on three-meter (245.33 to 245.18).
Liberty will host a Big Ten program for the first time in program history, welcoming Penn State and East Carolina next Friday and Saturday at the Liberty Natatorium. Current Liberty head coach Jake Shellenberger was an assistant coach at Penn State for three years, while associate head coach Jessica Barnes swam for the Nittany Lions.