The Liberty swimming & diving team concluded its regular season with a sweep of the UNCW Quad Meet, held Saturday at UNCW’s Seahawk Natatorium.
The Lady Flames downed the host Seahawks for the second day in a row, 190-107, while defeating Georgia Southern, 186-101, after besting the Eagles on Friday night. Liberty outscored College of Charleston, 219-67.
With five wins this weekend in Wilmington, Liberty closed out its regular season slate at 13-4, 4-1 against league opponents. UNCW is now 4-14, while Georgia Southern holds a 7-6 record and College of Charleston has gone 1-10 this season.
Liberty is now 6-2 all-time against the Eagles, 2-0 versus the Seahawks and 1-0 against the Cougars.
On the afternoon, Liberty won nine out of 12 individual events, while capturing both relay races. Juniors Kristin VanDeventer (500 free, 1,000 free) and Kendall Hough (100 free, 100 back) earned two victories apiece. Senior Meghan Babcock (50 free), freshman Kendall Hart (100 fly), freshman Prudence Rooker (200 IM), sophomore Victoria Tschoke (200 back) and junior Hannah Wakeley (200 fly) all won one race.
Liberty’s A 200 medley relay of Tschoke, Rooker, Hart and Babcock claimed victory in 1:44.84.
VanDeventer led a 1-2 finish for the Lady Flames in the 1,000 free, swimming a season-best 10:24.77. Freshman Sarah Browning followed in second at 10:35.45.
The Lady Flames took first, second and fourth in the 100 back, led by Hough’s 56.70. Tschoke placed second at 57.09, while senior Emily Duff earned fourth place in 57.90.
Wakeley outpaced the field in the 200 fly, clocking a 2:06.48 for the triumph.
Babcock won the 50 free in a season-best 23.82, while Hough came in second, in 24.04 and senior Cori Gary took fourth with a time of 24.55.
Hough pocketed her second win of the day in the 100 free, touching the wall in 52.02. Babcock (52.82), Gary (52.91) and freshman Chelsea Pond (53.39) finished third through fifth, respectively.
Liberty claimed the first two spots in the 200 back, led by a season-best 2:02.59 from Tschoke. Duff swam 2:04.58, good for second position.
VanDeventer earned a second victory, winning the 500 free in 5:06.63. Wakeley (season-best 5:07.71) and Browning (5:13.94) followed in third and fourth, in that order.
In addition to her victory in the 200 medley relay, Hart won the 100 fly with a 57.48 clocking.
Rooker swam 2:08.65 to win the 200 individual medley. Tschoke (2:10.96) and freshman Rachel Wasko (2:11.87) took third and fourth, respectively.
The Lady Flames concluded the meet with a 1-2 sweep of the 400 free relay, with the senior quartet of Chloe Thomas, Duff, Gary and Babcock winning in 3:30.90.
Liberty’s 200 free contingent finished in second through fifth, in that order. Gary claimed second with a season-best 1:55.16, followed by Pond (1:55.38), Wasko (1:56.19) and freshman Ashlee Sall (1:56.44).
Rooker clocked a 2:26.04 for second in the 200 breaststroke, while Wasko placed fifth, at 2:30.10. Rooker earlier earned third place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.85.
Freshman Madi Long placed fifth in both the 1-meter (184.05) and 3-meter (171.75) springboard events.
The Lady Flames now turn their attention to the 2015 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships, where Liberty looks to defend its conference championship. The championship meet will be held from Feb. 18-21, at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
In their final warm-up prior to the CCSA Championships, the Eagles traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina for a relay meet on Friday and a traditional meet Saturday. On Friday, the Eagles defeated UNC-W 83-71 but fell to defending Conference Champion Liberty 52-97.
"We had some pretty good performances in the relay meet,” said Head Coach Nate Kellogg. “It was nice to mix up the format and have some different events, but we need to clean up some details going forward."
The Eagles won the 800 free relay as Kylee Parsons, Mae McWhorter, Kaylyn Thomas, and Madison Lichtefeld touched in 7:45.91. Liberty took 2nd in the event touching in 7:47.27.
In the The 3x500 free relay, the team of Parsons, McWhorter, and Hannah Rogers placed 2nd touching in 15:43.05. Liberty won the event in a time of 15:21.78.
The Eagles were again 2nd in the 200 fly relay when Megan Heller, Anna Battistello, Sarah Schwartz, and Megan Liebl combined for a time of 1:45.60. Liberty took 1st with a time of 1:44.05.
In the 200 back relay, Lauren Campbell, Christina Moran, Elaina Lanson, and Rebecca Alves teamed up for a 2nd place finish in 1:47.16.
Parsons, Moran, Heller, and Lanson took 2nd in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:37.50. Liberty won the event with a time of 1:35.16.
Diver Erin Hembree finished 2nd in the 1 meter event with a score of 236.25. She finished only 2 points shy of 1st place diver Hannah Croxton of UNC-W.
In the traditional meet Saturday, the Eagles dominated College of Charleston 210-77, and lost by just 3 points to UNC-W 147-150. Georgia Southern also fell to Liberty 101-186.
"We were not as sharp as we needed to be, especially early on in the meet,” said Kellogg. “But I'm proud of our women for the way they rallied and fought. We never gave up."
Parsons claimed victory in the 200 free pacing the field with a 1:54.04 finish. Liberty’s Cori Gary was 2nd in 1:55.16. Abbie Lavallin managed a 2nd place showing in the 100 breast clocking in at 1:07.65. Her time was just 2 seconds slower than eventual winner Jenson Engen from UNC-W.
The 200 fly saw Campbell finish with a time of 2:06.55 to finish 2nd behind Liberty’s Hannah Wakeley who touched in 2:06.48. In the 100 and 500 free, Parsons took 2nd with a time of 52.81 and 5:07.46 respectively.
It was a 2nd place showing for Heller in the 100 fly as she finished in 58.16. Kendall Hart of Liberty won the event in 57.48. In the 200 IM, Campbell touched in 2:10.27 which was good enough for 2nd place.
In the 200 medley relay, Moran, Lavallin, Campbell, and Lanson took 3rd place finishing in 1:47.94. Lanson finished 3rd in the 50 free touching in 24.17. The Eagles also took 3rd in the 400 free relay as Parsons, Moran, Thomas, and Heller combined for a time of 3:33.91.
Hembree took 2nd in the 1 meter diving event with a score of 227.50. Rachel McCormick of UNC-W won the event with 232.10 points. In the 3 meter diving event, Hembree finished 4th with 199.85 points.
The Eagles will now begin preparations for the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Conference Championships which will be contested in Athens, Georgia February 18 – 21.
