Oklahoma Baptist Owns Commanding Leads at NAIA Champs; Four Records Fall

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, March 1. DAY three at the NAIA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving National Championships featured another dominant performance by Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison men lead with 653 points heading into the final day of competition. Concordia (Calif.) is in second place with 306.5 points. The Lady Bison are firmly in the lead with 639 points, trailed by SCAD Savannah (Ga.) with 392 total points.

Friday saw four national records fall, bringing the total to six records broken at the Oklahoma City Community College Aquatic Center this week.

The first two events of the night were both record-breaking performances by the Bison. A team comprised of Emma Forbes-Milne, Laura Galarza, Lisa MacManus, and Lexie Keller shattered the previous record in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay by more than two full seconds. The record had stood since 1995. The Bison men's 200-yard freestyle relay team also established a new national record.

The Bees' Hannah Legg took home the title in the women's 400-yard individual medley. Christine Tixier of Biola (Calif.) registered the top time in the women's 100-yard butterfly.

On the men's side, Andrew Fischer of Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) came away with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle race after finishing with the third fastest time in the preliminaries this morning.

Nick Schuttinger established a new national record on the way to claiming the men's 100-yard butterfly championship. The Bison broke his own record from last year. Fellow teammate Daniel Ramirez set a record in the preliminary round of the men's 100-yard backstroke, then proceeded to break it a few hours later in the final.

The final diving event of the championships featured all divers from the same team. Four Lady Bison competed on the three-meter board. Kristen Brimage finished first with a score of 252.30 to sweep both the one and three-meter events. Michaela Patterson came in second with a score of 194.10.

Women's Top Five
Oklahoma Baptist 639
SCAD 392
Cumberlands 269
Olivet Nazarene 238
Concordia-Irvine 215

Men's Top Five
Oklahoma Baptist 653
Concordia-Irvine 306.5
SCAD 297
Olivet Nazarene 288.5
Illinois Tech 225

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