The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) men\u2019s and women\u2019s Swimming and Diving National Championships will take place March 1-4 at the Columbus Aquatic Center in Columbus, Georgia.<\/p>\n
Last year, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) dominated the women\u2019s meet, winning by over 200 points ahead of Olivet Nazarene. Brenau finished third.<\/p>\n
On the men\u2019s side, Olivet Nazarene won while SCAD took second. Lindenwood-Belleville rounded out the top three.<\/p>\n
1. Courtney Hayward <\/strong><\/p>\n Brenau\u2019s Hayward enters the meet as the top seed in the 500 and 1650 as well as the third seed in the 400 IM. At the Appalachian Conference Championships three weeks ago, the senior won those three events. Last year at this meet, she won the 500 and mile and took second in the 400 IM.<\/p>\n 2. Lisa Tixier<\/strong><\/p>\n Tixier will return as one of the meet\u2019s top sprinters after finishing first in the 100 free and 100 fly and taking second in the 50 free in 2016. The Biola senior won those three events at the Pacific Collegiate Conference Championships earlier last month and is a crucial part of the Eagles\u2019 relays. She also enters the meet as the top seed in the 200 IM.<\/p>\n 3. Tiffany Ray<\/strong><\/p>\n Olivet Nazarene\u2019s Ray was the 200 IM champion at this meet last year and also added two silvers in the 400 IM and the 200 back. She swam crucial legs on her team\u2019s second-place 800 free and 400 medley relays, as well. Although her seed times aren\u2019t as high, watch for the senior to pick up right where she left off last year.<\/p>\n 4. Abigail Richey<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year as a freshman, Richey won the 200 free and swam on three of SCAD\u2019s winning relays. This year, the sophomore is hungry for more success. She\u2019s seeded fourth in the 100 free and first in the 200 free as she tries to reclaim her title.<\/p>\n 5. Andrea Vega<\/strong><\/p>\n Vega enters the meet as the top seed in the 100 breast and the second seed in the 200 breast after taking silver in both events one year ago. The Olivet Nazarene sophomore showed she is a diverse swimmer as she swam on all five of the Tigers\u2019 relays in 2016.<\/p>\n 1. Joel Thatcher<\/strong><\/p>\n This freshman is sure to make a big impact at his first NAIA Championships. The SCAD rookie is the top seed by over six seconds in the 500 free, the event he took second in at the Bluegrass Mountain Championships earlier in February. He\u2019s also the top seed in the 400 IM and the second seed in the mile.<\/p>\n 2. Danny Hartley<\/strong><\/p>\n The junior is the top seed in the 200 back by over five seconds and is the only man under 50 seconds in the 100 back. In his first year swimming for Keiser, Hartley will be looking to show his backstroke dominance in the NAIA.<\/p>\n 3. Joel Ax<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year\u2019s 200, 500, and 1650 free NAIA Champion returns looking to collect more gold. The SCAD senior is the top seed in the 50, 100, and 200 free this season\u2014opting not to swim the distance events\u2014proving his versatility across all freestyle distances. He\u2019s also a crucial part of SCAD\u2019s relays.<\/p>\n 4. Josiah Morales<\/strong><\/p>\n Wayland Baptist\u2019s Morales is entered with seed times that are already much faster than his performances last year. The senior is the top seed in the 100 fly after finishing fourth in 2016.\u00a0He also enters the meet as the second seed in the 50 free and the fourth seed in the 200 fly, looking to improve upon his tenth-place finish from last year.<\/p>\n 5. Lukas Macek<\/strong><\/p>\n After winning both the 100 and 200 breast at the Appalachian Conference Championships a few weeks ago, Macek will aim to continue his success this weekend. The Keiser freshman is the top seed in both events and is the favorite to take both titles at his first NAIA Championships.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) men\u2019s and women\u2019s Swimming and Diving National Championships will take place March 1-4 at the Columbus Aquatic Center in Columbus, Georgia. Last year,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":125691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[60340],"class_list":["post-243477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","tag-2017-naia-championships"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n5 Men\u2019s Swimmers to Watch:<\/h2>\n