National Association of Interscholastic Athletics: Fresno Pacific Women, Oklahoma Baptist Men Win Team Titles

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, March 3. THE final day of short course yard racing produced another round of NAIA records at the National Association of Interscholastic Athletics Championships tonight.

The Fresno Pacific women dominated the team title race with 780 points. Oklahoma Baptist snatched second with 578 points, while SCAD (468), Concordia (374) and Azusa Pacific (336) finished third through fifth.

In an exciting battle, that came down to the final race, the Oklahoma Baptist men upended Fresno Pacific, 757 to 752, for the men's team title. Concordia finished third with 574.5 points, while SCAD (377) and Illinois Tech (213) placed fourth and fifth.

The most remarkable part of this year's NAIA championships proved to be Oklahoma Baptist. The teams, which won the men's title and runner-up for the women's title, did not exist last year. OBU added Dr. Sam Freas as its first swimming and diving coach prior to the 2011-12 season. Freas coached South Africa's swim team in the Olympics, and coached at Arkansas, Hawaii and LSU as well as SUNY-Potsdam and Allegheny College prior to taking over the helm at Oklahoma Baptist.

Fresno Pacific's Cheyenne Coffman remained nearly unstoppable at this meet, cutting more than four seconds from the NAIA record in the women's 200 back with a pair of records throughout the day. First, she clocked a 1:59.42 to beat the 2:02.63 set by Simon Fraser's Diana Ureche back in 1997. Coffman then posted a 1:58.20 to win the finale in the distance dorsal. OBU's Nicole Wilson placed second in 2:02.43, while Cumberlands' Charlotte Parent took third in 2:02.76.

SCAD's Ryan Searles broke the NAIA record in the men's 200 back during prelims with a 1:45.22. That swim bettered the 1:47.35 set by Felix Sutanto of Cal Baptist in 2003. Searles then won the finale in 1:45.61. OBU's Andrew Nelson took second in 1:49.72, while FPU's Justin Lopez-Lamb earned third in 1:50.43.

SCAD's Heather Librizzi opened up the final evening of swimming with a 16:58.86 to win the women's 1650 free. Fresno Pacific's Mirielvy Aumaitre took second in 17:20.78, while Oklahoma Baptist's Alice Oggionni placed third in 17:25.83.

SCAD's Alex Graudins smashed his NAIA record in the men's 1650 free with a 15:23.97. That swim demolished his 15:31.38 set last year. FPU's Bobby Yribarren also surpassed the former record with a second-place 15:30.96. Asbury's Daniel Bowman snared third in 15:48.54.

Union's Renata Cabral topped the women's 100 free in 50.73, while FPU's Sofie Gjemmestad touched second in 51.09. OBU's Laura Galarza earned third in 51.39. FPU's Paul-Bernard Marie-Rose bested the NAIA record in the men's 100 free with a 44.31. That swim eclipsed the 44.33 set by FPU's Carl Weigley in 2009. OBU's Nick Schuttinger took second in 44.37, while Concordia's John Arnold snared third in 44.99.

SCAD's Catherine Duquet claimed the women's 200 breast in 2:16.67, edging FPU's Lauren Malthaner (2:16.69) for the title. OBU's Kerryn Mullin placed third in 2:21.51. OBU's Daniel Marsden won the men's 200 breast in 2:01.09. Teammate Gilles Cantrelle took second in 2:01.66, while FPU's Jordan Litz wound up third in 2:01.98.

Cumberlands' Charlotte Parent turned in a 2:04.95 to win the women's 200 fly. Brenau's Hannah Boudreaux took second in 2:05.73, while SCAD's Anna Blackburn placed third in 2:11.97. Notably, Biola's Brittney Rosania took 12th with a 2:15.21. Rosania is the daughter of Swimming World contributor J.R. Rosania, and that was her final collegiate swim. OBU's Maximiliano Abreu topped the men's 200 fly in 1:49.56, while FPU's Damien Bernard earned second in 1:49.96. OBU's Garland Sullivan touched third in 1:51.21.

Coffman closed down what proved to be an epic meet with a victory for FPU in the women's 400 free relay. Coffman, Katelyn Brown, Sofie Gjemmestad and Stacy Carter clocked a 3:25.81 to blast the NAIA record of 3:28.49 set by Simon Fraser back in 2003. SCAD (3:29.65) and OBU (3:30.07) placed second and third.

OBU's Ivan Maciuniak, Nick Schuttinger, Mateo Maciuniak and Daniel Ramirez closed the show with a 2:57.83 to win the men's 400 free relay. That swim smashed the NAIA record of 3:00.65 set by Fresno Pacific in 2009. FPU took second in 2:58.78, also under the former record. Concordia took third overall in 3:01.85.

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