University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
2018 CCSA Conference Championships
Bulldogs Continue Success at CCSA Championships as More Schools Records Fall
02.17.2018 | Women's Swimming & Diving
ATHENS, Ga. - On the third day of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championships, the UNC Asheville swim team posted yet another successful day, as more school records fell at the Gabrielson Natatorium on Friday.
BULLDOG BITES
Day Three Highlights
Preliminaries
100 Butterfly Prelims
Just like Thursday, the Bulldogs opened the day breaking a school record. In the 100 butterfly prelims, Catherine Allen posted a 56.38, which broke the previous school record (57.01) that she set earlier this season at the Fall Frenzy Invite. The sophomore finished 18th in the 34-person field.
Teammate Emily Werth finished 22nd, as she qualified for the C Finals with career best 57.27.
Katie Brown and Haley Bennison also posted strong performances in the event. Brown clocked in at 1:00.46, and Bennison posted a 1:02.60.
400 Individual Medley Prelims
Madison Rogan, who is already off to a hot start at the CCSA Championships, continued her success in the 400 IM prelims. The sophomore from Athens, Ga. earned a berth into the A Final with a career best 4:28.46.
Stephanie Smith and Sydney VandenBerg also earned a spot in the finals. Smith will perform in the B Final, while VandenBerg will swim in the C Final. Smith swam a 4:31.06, and VandenBerg recorded a 4:38.57.
Allie Snyder also posted a strong swim in the event, as she clocked in at 4:48.22.Â
200 Freestyle Prelims
Four Bulldogs - Adee Weller, Alejandra Sanchez Garcia, Skylar Rogan and Elizabeth Conte - recorded career-best times in the 200 free prelims. Weller was within one second of matching the school record, as she posted a 1:52.75. Also joining her in the B Finals is Sanchez Garcia, as the senior clocked a 1:52.54. Skylar Rogan was the third Bulldog to earn a berth into the finals after recording a 1:52.89.
Conte and Thomas finished behind one another. Conte swam a career best 1:57.72, and Thomas posted a season best 1:59.43.
100 Breaststroke Prelims
Morgan Rulevich recorded a season best 1:03.40, which earned her a position into the A Finals later on Friday night. Carly Emerson and Skye Lewis also posted season-best times, as the duo earned a berth into the C Finals.Â
Shannon Kennedy clocked a 1:11.53 in the event, and Madison-Grace Bristow had a career best 1:12.64.
100 Backstroke Prelims
In the best preliminary session for UNC Asheville, five Bulldogs earned spots into the finals on Friday night. Emily Werth and Sanchez Garcia are the two Asheville representatives in the B Finals, and Jessica Woolfe, Elizabeth Murray and Emma Nelson each posted fast times to each earn a spot in the C Finals.Â
Highlighting the preliminary event was breaking a school record by Werth. The senior broke the previous school record, which she owned, with a 56.08 time on Friday morning. She previously owned the school record with a 56.89, but she shaved off 0.81 seconds to set a new mark in the program record book.Â
Sanchez Garcia posted a 57.7 time, as she will swim with Werth in the B Finals.
Woolfe was just two spots away from qualifying for the B Finals, as she placed 18th with a 59.07. Emma Nelson was three spots away from her teammate, as she recorded a 59.46. Murray rounded out the C Final qualifying times with a 1:00.18.
In her second event of the prelims, Bennison swam a 1:04.25 in the 100 backstroke.
Finals
100 Butterfly Finals
With a pair of Bulldogs representing UNC Asheville in the finals, Allen and Werth finished 20th and 22nd, respectively. Allen posted a 56.43, while Werth clocked a 57.43.
400 Individual Medley Finals
VandenBerg started the Bulldogs off on the right note in the C Finals, as the junior finished first in her heat with a 4:34.10. The time was also a career best for the Concord, N.C. native.
Smith earned 17 team points for UNC Asheville, as the senior shaved off nearly four and half seconds from her preliminary time. In fact, the 4:27.55 time in the finals edged the previous school record, which she set at the Fall Frenzy earlier this season.
However, the record was once again broken several minutes later, as teammate Madison Rogan bested Smith's time by just 0.20 seconds (4:26.29). Madison Rogan finished seventh, which gave the Bulldogs 23 team points.
200 Freestyle Finals
Weller posted a strong performance in the finals, as the sophomore clocked a 1:51.93. Sanchez Garcia finished two places behind her teammates in the B Finals with a 1:53.08.
To conclude the performances for the Bulldogs in the 200 free finals, Skylar Rogan won the C Final as she shaved off 0.77 seconds from her preliminary time. Her 1:52.12 time was 0.24 seconds faster than the runner-up in the C Finals and a new career best for the sophomore.
100 Breaststroke Finals
Rulevich highlighted the finals for UNC Asheville in the 100 breaststroke, as the junior broke a school record that has stood since the 2013 CCSA Championships. Rulevich bested the previous school mark by a quarter of a second, as she swam a 1:02.59. The five-year record, which was held by Alessandra Troncoso, marked the longest standing record in UNC Asheville history heading into the conference championships.
Emerson had a strong swim in the C Finals. She recorded a season best 1:08.38, which placed her 22nd in the event. Lewis rounded out the times for the Bulldogs, as she placed 24th with a 1:11.27.
100 Backstroke Finals
After breaking the school in the preliminary round, Werth finished third in the B Final (11th overall). Sanchez Garica finished 16th overall, as the two Bulldogs combined for 27 team points for UNC Asheville.Â
Woolfe and Nelson finished 21st and 24th, respectively, and Murray rounded out the finishes for the Bulldogs in the C Final.
400 Medley Relay
Continuing its successful third day at the CCSA Championships, UNC Asheville broke yet another record, but this time in the 400 medley relay. Between Werth, Rulevich, Allen and Weller, the foursome posted a 3:48.36, which broke the previous school record of 3:50.51 that was set at the 2017 CCSA Championships.Â
Quotable
"Overall the team did a great job. Again more school record fell, and tomorrow we have the chance to break every individual record, except one since the event happened earlier in the meet."
"There were once again more lifetime bests, and tomorrow, we have a lot of points to earn. We scored 633 team points last year, so we hope to be higher than that. We are well on our way to beat it tomorrow."
"The three 400 IMs tonight were phenomenal. The entire team was ecstatic to have high finishes in all three finals, including seeing the school record fall twice in the same event."
"Tonight's relay was only the second relay record we have broken, so we are really excited to see that. It was also the highest finish in program history. The time was nearly a full two-second drop from last year's event."
- Head Coach Elizabeth Lykins -
What's Next?Â
The final day of the CCSA Championships begins for the Bulldogs at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Garbrielson Natatorium.
Players Mentioned
