For the third year in a row, the Liberty Lady Flames swept the Davidson Duals, defeating the host Wildcats, Georgia Southern and Howard, in a two-day meet which ended Saturday at Charles A. Cannon Pool.
With the three victories, Liberty wraps up its 2013-14 regular-season schedule with a 9-4 record, including 4-0 against CCSA opponents. The Lady Flames defeated Davidson, 222-127, while posting a 200-129 win over Georgia Southern and besting Howard, 268-38.
On Saturday, Liberty won seven out of eight swimming events contested, including both relays. For the meet, the Lady Flames claimed 14 out of 17 events in the pool.
The relay team of Victoria Tschoke, Emilie Kaufman, Jess Reinhardt and Chloe Thomas got the Lady Flames off to a good start on day two, clocking 3:51.80 to win the 400 medley relay.
Heather McCorkel then swam 5:04.07 to win the 500 free, opening up a streak of five consecutive individual events won by Lady Flames. Kristin Van Deventer followed in third, with a time of 5:09.49.
Meghan Babcock took home the 100 free victory, in 52.14, while teammate Kendall Hough swam 53.63 for second place.
Emily Duff edged out Georgia Southern’s Christina Moran (2:04.38 to 2:04.82), winning the 200 back. Liberty’s Tschoke went 2:09.16 to earn a fourth-place finish.
Kaufman outpaced the field in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:19.76 performance. Morgan Noonan claimed fourth place, in 2:26.54.
During the 100 fly, Reinhardt won by nearly three seconds, as the sophomore fashioned a 55.12 swim. Bethany Kennon swam 58.16, good for third place.
Duff placed second in the 400 individual medley, recording a time of 4:37.61, while Hannah Wakeley went 4:43.09 for fourth place.
Courtney Fox finished fourth in women’s one-meter diving, with a season-best 228.67 score.
The Lady Flames wrapped up the meet with first and third-place finishes in the 200 free relay. Reinhardt, Cori Gary, Thomas and Babcock won in 1:36.42.
Liberty will next compete at the 2014 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships, held at Tennessee’s Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center from Feb. 19-22.
The Davidson swimming & diving team wrapped up competition at the final CCSA Duals, as both the men and women downed Howard and the women fell to Liberty and Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Cannon Pool.
The men’s squad defeated the Bison 138-102, while the women won by a score of 295-38. Liberty defeated the Wildcat women 222-127, while Georgia Southern also took a win from the ‘Cats, 180-173.
Elise Lankiewicz, Katy Willams, Meredith Nakano and Kassie Shannon teamed for a second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, swimming a 3:54.57. The men’s quartet of Luke Burton, Drew Gill, Cameron Bard and Colin MacKay won the men’s side with a time of 3:34.89.
Lankiewicz went on to swim to a runner-up finish in the 500-yard free soon after, posting a time of 5:06.07. Anna Blair Bullock was fifth in the event in 5:12.67. Max Schimanski touched first in the men’s event in 4:46.38, followed by Will Fox in 4:50.92.
Bard claimed the fastest time in the 100-yard free in a time of 47.47, followed by Ben Stewart-Bates in 50.00. Angie Healy was fourth for the women in 54.03, while Eica Clancy clocked in at 54.68 for fifth place.
Josh Schammel led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 200-yard backstroke, touching the pads in 1:56.86. Ethan Levinson was second in 1:58.66 with Adam Hunter taking third in 1:58.99, though all three were exhibition swims. Lauren Malachowski claimed sixth in the women’s event in 2:12.05.
Williams earned a third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke by swimming a 2:22.96. On the men’s side, Grant Smith’s 2:10.37 narrowly beat out Dylan Ludwick’s 2:10.46.
Nakano was the runner-up in the women’s 100-yard butterfly, hitting the pads in 58.02. Liz Mace followed in fifth with a time of 59.62. The men’s race was tight, with Drew Gill edging out the rest of the competition with a 53.32. Burton followed in 53.70.
Smith recorded the fastest time of the day in the 400-yard IM, finishing in 4:12.97. Luke Boliek was the runner-up in 4:17.91 while Kate Carter was Davidson’s top women’s finisher, taking sixth in 4:43.09.
The men’s 200-yard relay of Gill, Bard, MacKay and Ludwick finished with the fastest time of the day at 1:27.97. The relay proved to be a heartbreaker for the women, who needed the win to defeat Georgia Southern. A false start for the “A” team would prove costly for the ‘Cats, who wound up falling to the Eagles.
Davidson will head to Knoxville, Tenn., in the coming weeks for the CCSA Championships. The event will take place Feb. 19-21 on the campus of the University of Tennessee.
