National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships: NAIA Record Book Suffers Heavy Rewrite

ST. PETERS, Missouri, March 4. THE third evening of short course yard swimming at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships finished with the Cal Baptist women and Fresno Pacific men leading the team title races. Meanwhile, the NAIA record books underwent another heavy rewrite.

Cal Baptist took a commanding lead in the women's race with 465 points. Fresno Pacific stood second with 310 points, while Azusa Pacific held third with 299 points. SCAD (284) and Simon Fraser (276) made up the rest of the top five.

Fresno Pacific's men led the way with 446.5 points, while Cal Baptist owned second after the night with 415 points. Lindenwood (306), Simon Fraser (294) and SCAD (261.5) owned third through fifth.

Fresno Pacific's Carl Weigley downed the NAIA record in the men's 100 fly with a winning 47.76. That effort clipped his previous record of 48.12 set back in 2009. Lindenwood's Javier Hernandez took second in 48.66, while SCAD's Vitali Pushkar-Verbitsky finished third in 48.70.

Concordia's Alex Peters twice lowered the NAIA record in the women's 200 free. First, she stopped the clock in 1:50.78 during prelims, eclipsing the 1991 record of 1:51.02 set by Simon Fraser's Sharon Turner – the oldest record in the NAIA women's books. Peters then won the title at night with a 1:49.58. Fresno's Sofie Gjemmestad took second in 1:51.30, while CBU's Adriana Quezada touched third in 1:52.81.

SFU's David Hibberd bettered his NAIA record in the men's 200 free with a 1:37.30. That swim beat the 1:37.47 he clocked as his team's relay leadoff last night. Fresno's Paul Marie-Rose placed second in 1:37.61, while SCAD's Alex Graudins took third in 1:38.76.

SCAD's Liz Roberts wiped out the NAIA record in the women's 100 breast with a 1:02.28 during prelims. That swim eclipsed the 1:03.45 set by SFU's Kathleen Stoddy back in 2003. Roberts then won the title this evening in 1:02.38. Fresno's Lauren Malthaner (1:03.61) and Concordia's Alison Berrien (1:03.93) placed second and third.

Cal Baptist's Mary Hanson won the women's 100 back in 54.66 to take down the NAIA record. Fresno Pacific's Cheyenne Coffman held the previous record with a 55.39 clocked a year ago. Fresno's Katelyn Brown took second in 57.13, while SFU's Kristine Lawson took third in 57.78.

Biola's April Smith captured the women's 400 IM title in 4:30.23. Lindenwood's Sarah Billiamosa took second in 4:32.00, while Concordia's Ana Gomez earned third in 4:33.81. Cal Baptist's Kevin Sellars hit the wall in 3:55.75 to win the men's 400 IM title. SCAD's Stephen Sullivan (3:59.56) and Fresno Pacific's Raymond Eggert (4:00.83) finished second and third.

Azusa Pacific's Kaylen Hewko topped the women's 100 fly in 55.71, while SFU's Nicole Cossey took second in 56.72. SCAD's Gianna Grace wound up third in 56.94. CBU's Sergio Molina won the men's 100 breast in 55.28. SCAD's Mike Lawrence (55.50) and Sam Crawford (56.44) wound up second and third.

Fresno's Carl Weigley captured the men's 100 back in 49.37, while Concordia's Aaron Woods took second in 49.90. SFU's Greg Laughlin finished third in 50.53.

Cal Baptist's Jamie Flynn won the women's three-meter diving event with 276.80 points. Concordia's Christine Runkle (246.85) and Azusa Pacific (223.45) took second and third.
Four relay titles were won this evening. Azusa Pacific's Victoria Gibb, Karla Hill, Quinn Robertson and Kaylen Hewko won the women's 200 free relay in 1:36.09. Simon Fraser's David Hibberd, Greg Laughlin, Ben Berg and Alexandre Duguay touched out Lindenwood's Ivars Akmentins, Igor Iovanovich, Diego Banda and Reinis Rozensteins, 1:21.77 to 1:21.78, for the men's 200 free relay title.

SCAD's Kelsey Bobzien, Liz Roberts, Gianna Grace and Mary Ashley Krogh topped the women's 400 medley relay in 3:48.78. That time beat the NAIA record of 3:51.02 set by Simon Fraser back in 1995. SFU's Paolo Olavario, David Hibberd, Greg Laughlin and Ben Berg topped the men's 400 medley relay in 3:18.51.

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