In just a mere four seasons, the Olivet Nazarene University men's swim team did something that no other team in Tiger history has done—earned the title of NAIA National Champion. The SCAD Savannah (Ga.) women took home the women's NAIA National Championship at the Columbus Aquatic Center in Columbus, Ga. This is the third national championship for the SCAD Savannah women and the first-ever for the Olivet Nazarene men.
SCAD Savannah took home 8-out-of-20 women’s event, scoring a total of 753 points. This is the Bees third national championship title after winning back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. Caroline Lepesant ended her collegiate career with a national championship in the 1650-yard freestyle, finishing .64 of second behind the NAIA record with a 16:44.01. In the 200-yard butterfly, the Bees owned the podium placing first through fifth place, led by Hannah Legg with a 2:03:98 finish. This is the first time in NAIA history that one team has scored first through fifth place in any event.
"This was our goal the whole season and we saw great performance from both the men's and women's team throughout the week," said head coach Bill Pilczuk. "This team had great leadership and the seniors really brought the team together to ensure they went out on top.
Caroline Lepesant began the night by breaking the school record in both 1000 and 1650 free en route to her first individual national championship of meet. Lepesant touched the wall in 16:44.01, which was less than a second away from the NAIA record.
The Bees made NAIA swimming history in the women's 200 butterfly by becoming the first team to have the first thru fifth finishes in a single race at the NAIA National Championships. Hannah Legg led SCAD touching the wall in 2:03.98 to win the national title. Rebecca Justus and Emma McKinley earned All-American honors after finishing second and third, respectfully. Cadie Crow out reached Haley Thompson by 0.01 seconds to finish fourth.
On the week, Olivet amassed seven individual national championships and two relay titles. There were 16 individual All-American performances and five relay All-American honors. Kuzmin finished with the most honors, winning two individual titles and helping win two relays. He swam a total of eight All-American performances. Kuzmin, Magnoler and Price all earned their first national champion honor and Tyler Timmer (FR/Worth, Ill.) became the Tiger's first All-American diver.
The women's team finished the meet with four individual national champions and sweeping all five of the relays. They also had 11 swimmers combine for 36 All-American honors. Pilczuk was named the NAIA women's swimming coach of the year.
Lisa Tixier of Biola (Calif.) took home her second title of the national championship in the 100-yard freestyle swimming a 51.12. Biola also had a strong showing in the 200-yard breaststroke as Christina Ali swam a first-place finish with a 2:18.31.
The men of Olivet Nazarene won their first ever national championship swimming their way to 714.5 total points and 9-of-20 first place finishes. The men finished the competition with a first and second place finish in the 200-yard fly lead by junior Frank Tapia (1:48.07) and senior Andrew Fischer (1:49.78). The Tigers had five different individual first place winners including two-time winner Danill Kuzmin who won the 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley.
Awards
Women’s Swim of the Meet:
, Olivet Nazarene – 100-yard backstroke (56.37)
Men’s Swim of the Meet: Joel Ax, SCAD Savannah – 200-yard freestyle (1:34.90)
Women’s Diver of the Year: Genesis Veliz, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
Men’s Diver of the Year: Shane Brinson, Biola (Calif.)
Women’s Swimmer of the Year: Amanda Moran, Olivet Nazarene
Men’s Swimmer of the Year: Joel Ax, SCAD Savannah
Coach of the Year
Women’s: Bill Pilczuk, SCAD Savannah
Men’s: Scott Teeters, Olivet Nazarene
