NAIA Championships: Thomas Gibson Demolishes NAIA 200 Breast Record; Cal Baptist Sweeps Titles

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, March 1. THE National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championships came to a close as Cal Baptist defended its men's and women's titles at the Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas. Meanwhile, an NAIA national record went down throughout the evening.

The Cal Baptist women captured their fourth consecutive NAIA team title with a tally of 729 points. Simon Frasier finished second again with 585 points, while Savannah College of Art and Design took third with 540 points. Cumberlands (343) and Fresno Pacific (300) rounded out the top five.

Meanwhile, the CBU men earned its third successive NAIA team title with 573 points. SFU finished second with 503 points, while SCAD took third with 465.5 points. Lindenwood (437) and Cumberlands (362) comprised the rest of the top five.

Hans Richard gave Simon Frasier a win right off the bat during the final night of swimming as he clocked a 15:53.15 in the men's 1650 freestyle. By the end of the event, SFU closed to within 7.5 points of Cal Baptist.

In the women's 200 backstroke, Nicole Shipman of Cal Baptist cruised to victory with a top time of 2:04.67 as she knocked off second-place finisher Gia Bogetti of SFU (2:05.56).

Meanwhile, CBU's Vicente Andrade garnered the men's 200 back title with a time of 1:48.97 as Cal Baptist pushed its lead back out to 448-391 over Simon Frasier.

Katelyn Butler of Cal Baptist scared the NAIA record in the women's 100 free, but fell short when she stopped the clock in 51.83. Sharon Turner's time of 51.03 for Simon Frasier in 1993 will hold on for another year. By the end of the race, Cal Baptist held a huge lead with 618 points compared to SFU's 488.

In the men's 100 free, Simon Frasier responded as Andrew Poznikoff touched out Danny Recordon of SCAD, 45.65 to 45.74, as well as Carl Weigley of Fresno Pacific (45.78). CBU, however, remained in the lead, 479-426.

SFU's Courtenay Mulhern collected her stellar seventh title of the meet as she touched out Cal Baptist's Kimie Cook, 2:23.08 to 2:23.55, to win the women's 200 breast.

In the men's 200 breast, Trevor Brekke's NAIA record of 2:03.45 representing Simon Frasier in 2004 was crushed as SCAD's Thomas Gibson nearly became the first NAIA swimmer under 2:00 when he clocked a 2:00.76 for the win.

Keeping pace with her teammate at seven titles each, SFU's Vicky Sui snared the women's 200 fly title with a time of 2:04.51.

Next, SFU's Niels Muntzenburger crushed the field in the men's 200 fly when he hit the wall in 1:48.58 for the title.

The Simon Frasier law firm of Sui-Mulhern closed its title output with eight apiece as the women's 400 freestyle relay of Sui, Mulhern, Addie Kolybaba and Jessica Verheyden concluded the meet with a winning time of 3:29.68.

SFU brought the curtain down on the 52nd annual edition of the NAIA Championship meet with a triumph in the men's 400 freestyle relay. The team of Poznikoff, Muntzenburger, Hans Richard and David Geary rounded out the meet in 3:03.33.

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