EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Swimming Team has already posted a remarkable season in its first year as a varsity program under Head Coach Dave Griffore, but a final series of tests remain. The Wasps will take on the Old Dominion Athletic Conference at the 2013 ODAC Championships at the Greensboro Aquatics Center this weekend.
The three-day, 16-event meet will run from Friday morning to Sunday evening with preliminary races in the morning and finals in the evening. Emory & Henry will be competitive in every race, but the Wasps' lack of depth will show this weekend more than it has all season as they will have only one entry in many of the events compared to four or more for most other teams.
The championship format allows for 18 swimmers to compete in three individual races and four relays. With only seven swimmers and a total of 21 individual entries, it will be difficult for Emory & Henry to compete with the depth of established programs such as Washington and Lee University and Randolph-Macon College, who will easily fill their 54 individual slots.
Relay events will give the Wasps a slight advantage, with only one relay allowed per team. However the squad's lack of depth will require all swimmers to use their allotment of spots where the larger teams will be able to spread out their relays, thus saving some energy.
All that being said, Emory & Henry is primed for a successful meet with plenty of fast swims and will challenge in several events for ODAC Championships. The Wasps also will look to improve on their seventh-place pick in the Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Payton Shirey (Seaford, Del.), who was named ODAC Swimmer of the Week twice this year, is seeded second and sixth, respectfully in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and is also sixth in the 100-yard butterfly.
Lauren Frizzell (Blacksburg, Va.), another ODAC Swimmer of the Week, has the top seed in the 1650-yard freestyle, is second in the 500-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle. She has also posted the 11th-best time in the 200-yard backstroke.
Tyler Ann Herron (Calhoun, Ga.) is the favorite in the 100-yard breaststroke has the sixth-best time in the 50-yard freestyle and is eighth coming into the 200-yard breaststroke.
Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.), the Wasps' third swimmer to win weekly honors this year, has a top-three time in the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard individual medley and the 400-yard IM. She is also 14th in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard breaststroke.
Nicole Powell (Apex, N.C.) will help E&H in distance events with the seventh-best time in the 200-yard butterfly, the eight-best time in the 1650-yard freestyle, and is ninth-fastest in the 400-yard individual medley. She also has the 14th-quickest swim in the 500-yard freestyle.
Sam Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) will swim the backstroke for the Wasps, both individually and on relays with the 15th and 19th-best times in the 200- and 100-yard back, respectively.
Sophia Alonge (Vienna, Va.) swam the 23rd and 24th quickest 200- and 100-yard breaststroke times, respectively, during the season and will also add depth in the sprint freestyle events.
For live coverage of the 2013 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Women's Swimming Championships, visit the ODAC Championship Central hub. The Preliminaries are set to start at 10:00 a.m., daily. The Finals will be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.