GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Swimming Team is in third place after Day One of the 2013 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships. The Wasps earned three individual medals and finished second and fourth in the two relays on day one of the meet.
Payton Shirey (Seaford, Del.) swam a :23.98 in the 50-yard freestyle, breaking the ODAC record and winning the conference title. The previous record of :24.13 was set in 1997 by Brooke Stanley. Shirey is the first Emory & Henry athlete to win a conference championship since the 2003 Softball Team and the first individual since Ruthy Woodring was crowned ODAC Champion at the 1991 Cross Country Championships. It was the third time that Shirey broke the 50-yard freestyle on the day.
Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.) finished second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:12.72, besting the record that she set earlier in the day by 1.02 seconds.
Lauren Frizzell (Blacksburg, Va.) turned in a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle after qualifying fourth, posting a time of 5:17.55.
The 200-yard freestyle relay of Shirey, Tyler Ann Herron (Calhoun, Ga.), Guardalabene and Sam Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) was second with a school-record time of 1:40.25.
In the 400-yard medley relay finals, the team of Brown, Guardalabene, Shirey and Frizzell posted a fourth-place finish with a 4:14.96.
In the 50-yard freestyle consolation finals, Herron (:25.45) and Brown (:25.73) finished ninth and 11th, respectively.
Emory & Henry will continue in the ODAC Championships on Saturday.
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FRIDAY PRELIMS
In the first swim of the day, E&H posted a 1:41.34 in the 200-yard freestyle relay to qualify first for the finals. Payton Shirey (Seaford, Del.) led off the swim with a :24.44, to set an Emory & Henry record. Tyler Ann Herron (Calhoun, Ga.), Sam Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) and Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.) all had strong swims to propel the Wasps to a first-place qualification.
Lauren Frizzell (Blacksburg, Va.) put up a time of 5:22.09 in the 500-yard freestyle to qualify fourth for the finals this evening.
Guardalabene posted a school-record 2:13.74 in the 200-yard individual medley, which was good enough to qualify second.
The Wasps saw three swimmers reach the evening session in the 50-yard freestyle. Shirey's school-record didn't even last through the session as she swam a :24.30 to qualify first. Herron and Brown are in the consolation finals at ninth (:25.44) and 14th (:25.94), respectively. Sophia Alonge (Vienna, Va.) went :27.22 to finish 21st.
Emory & Henry put up a fourth-place qualification in the 400-yard medley relay. Frizzell, Herron, Nicole Powell (Apex, N.C.) and Shirey registered a time of 4:18.72 for the prelim.
Check back this evening for a recap of the finals.
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