NAIA Championships: Fresno Pacific, SCAD Lead Men’s and Women’s Races After Third Night; Longest Standing Men’s NAIA Record Falls

ST. PETERS, Missouri, March 5. THE third night of short course yard competition at the NAIA Championships featured four more meet records taking a tumble.

Meanwhile, Fresno Pacific took a commanding lead in the men's team title race with 466.5 points. California Baptist stood second with 364 points, while Lindenwood held onto third with 342 points. SCAD (287) and Concordia (281) rounded out the top five.

SCAD moved out to a lead in the women's race with 386 points, while Cal Baptist fell to second with 328 points. Fresno Pacific (316), Concordia (291) and Azusa Pacific (263) made up the other top five teams.

Cal Baptist's Kevin Sellars has proven to be a legend killer in the record books this weekend. First, he wiped out the 1992 NAIA record of Kelly Kremer in the men's 200 IM yesterday. Tonight, he went back even further to take out the longest standing record in the books in the men's 400 IM. Sellars clocked a 3:53.86 to beat John Sayre's 1983 mark of 3:54.67 set while representing Central Washington. Fresno's Raymond Eggert took second in 4:02.46, while Cal Baptist's Brian Haney placed third in 4:02.93.

Simon Fraser's David Hibberd claimed an NAIA record of his own in the men's 200 free. Hibberd raced to a 1:38.08, erasing the 1:38.51 set by Jorge Ospina a year ago. SCAD's Alex Graudins placed second in 1:39.45, while Cal Baptist's Alan Ogden finished third in 1:39.94

A third NAIA record fell by the wayside when Fresno's Cheyenne Coffman dropped a 55.39 in the women's 100 back. That performance beat her 2009 mark of 55.63. Cal Baptist's Lara Pease finished second in 56.34, while Simon Fraser's Kristine Lawson claimed third in 58.00.

Lindenwood's Sarah Billamosa crushed the field in the women's 400 IM with a 4:32.06, while SCAD's Melanie Futscher took second in 4:37.32. Concordia's Ana Gomez finished third in 4:38.20. Simon Fraser's Suzanne Wuolle won the women's 200 free in 1:53.73, while Fresno's Brooke Turner placed second in 1:54.13. Cal Baptist's Adriana Quezada earned third in 1:54.53.

Fresno's Carl Weigley won the men's 100 fly in 48.36, just off his NAIA record of 48.12 set last year. Lindenwood's Javier Hernandez finished second in 48.68, while Illinois Tech's Joe Taylor rounded out the top three in 48.92. Azusa Pacific's Kaylen Hewko followed with a 56.25 to win the women's 100 fly. Simon Fraser's Addie Kolybaba touched second in 56.77, while Illinois Tech's Victoria Masney finished third in 57.10.

SCAD went 1-2 in the men's 100 breast. Thomas Gibson won the title in 55.66, while Michael Lawrence placed second in 56.31. Fresno's Bart Kelly finished third in 56.32. Concordia's Alison Berrien followed in the women's 100 breast with a 1:03.94. SCAD's Liz Roberts (1:03.99) and Kaycee Corso (1:04.46) finished second and third.

Fresno's Erik Thiessen cleared 50 seconds with a winning time of 49.67 in the men's 100 back. Teammate Gerald Gee finished second in 50.23, while Concordia's Craig Brazier placed third in 50.52.

During relays, Simon Fraser's Ben Berg, David Hibberd, Adam Kautz and Greg Laughlin won the men's 200 free relay in 1:21.92, while Fresno Pacific's Cheyenne Coffman, Turner, Nathalie Kampen and Stacy Carter took the women's 200 free relay title in 1:36.19. Fresno's Thiessen, Kelly, Weigley and Babcock won the men's 400 medley relay in 3:20.28, while Fresno's Coffman, Lauren Malthaner, Stacy Carter and Turner won the women's 400 medley relay in 3:50.75 to clear the NAIA record. Simon Fraser held the previous record with a 3:51.02 set back in 1995.

Only a pair of divers competed in the women's three-meter event. Concordia's Christine Runkle won with 232.80 points.

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