The Emory University swimming and diving teams wrapped up another dominating conference performance on Saturday night, as the men and women each claimed the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship for the 15th-consecutive season.
The Emory men ended the meet with 1,818.5 points to claim first-place out of the eight teams, finishing well ahead of second-place Carnegie Mellon University (1,300 points) and third-place Chicago (1,230.5 points). The Emory women finished the meet with 1,955 points, besting second-place Chicago (1,435) and third-place Washington University (1,219.5).
Emory's 15-year conference winning streak dates back to the 1998-99 season, Head Coach Jon Howell's first campaign with the team. The conference team titles marked the 21st overall for the Emory women and 15th for the Emory men, during the 26-year history of UAA competition.
In addition to winning the team championships, Emory senior Anna Dobben was named the UAA Women's Swimmer of the Year, after winning conference titles in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard freestyle relay, 800-yard freestyle relay, and 400-yard freestyle relay, in addition to a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
Emory also had both the men's and women's Rookie of the Year winners. Andrew Wilson won the men's award after claiming conference titles in 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 400-yard medley relay and 200-yard medley relay, while Elizabeth Aronoff claimed the women's honor after winning the 100-yard breaststroke and finishing second in the 200-yard breaststroke.
On the women's side on the final day, the Eagles claimed UAA titles in four individual events and one relay. Freshman Mikayla Carnley won the 1,650-yard freestyle with a 'B' cut time of 17:05.37. In the 200-yard backstroke, senior Taryn Lushinsky claimed a victory with a pool record and 'A' cut time of 2:01.05, while freshman Ellie Thompson finished second with a provisional qualifying time of 2:02.66. Both sophomore Nancy Larson and Dobben recorded 'B' cut times in the 100-yard freestyle, with Larson winning the event (51.10 seconds) and Dobben placing second (51.39 seconds in the preliminaries).
Emory also swept the all-UAA honors in the women's 200-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Megan Beach won the conference title with a mark of 2:18.95. Freshman Elizabeth Aronoff (2:19.68) and junior Kylie McKenzie (2:20.82) finished second and third, respectively.
The Eagles' 400-yard freestyle relay team of senior Renee Rosenkranz, Larson, senior Ann Wolber and Dobben won the event with a pool record and 'A' cut time of 3:25.87 to finish off the meet.
The Emory men claimed a pair of conference titles in individual events as well on the final day. Wilson claimed a victory in the 200-yard breaststroke with a pool and conference-record time of 2:02.51 in the preliminaries, also good for an NCAA 'A' cut, while senior Peter O'Brien earned an all-UAA finish in the event, placing third with a time of 2:04.95. Senior Miller Douglas won the UAA Championship in the 200-yard butterfly with an 'A' cut and pool-record time of 1:49.80, while junior Matt O'Brien finished third with a time of 1:51.06 in the preliminaries.
Emory also claimed its fifth relay title of the meet, as sophomore Andrew Dillinger, Peter O'Brien, freshman Matt Kuhlik and junior Ross Spock completed the relay sweep by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:04.32.
Other Eagles claiming all-UAA honors with a top-three finish on the final day included junior Annabel Enquist in the women's one-meter dive (417.00, third place), senior Leslie Hackler (2:03.76, second place) and sophomore Nina Zook (2:04.31, third place) in the women's 200-yard butterfly, freshman Eagan Zettlemoyer in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle (16:08.65, third place), and freshman Jared Scheuer in the men's 200-yard backstroke (1:51.04, second place). Each mark was good for an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Emory finished the 2013 UAA Championships with a combined 16 individual titles and nine relay championships, while earning a total of 44 all-UAA honors. The Eagles also set UAA records in nine events and pool records in 15, while recording five NCAA 'A' cuts, 94 NCAA 'B' cuts, and four NCAA qualifying diving scores.
With the UAA Championships behind them, the Eagles will have one more opportunity to qualify for next month's NCAA Championships. Emory will be sending a group of swimmers back to the University of Chicago for the Midwest Invitational on Friday, February 22nd and Saturday, February 23rd.
