MARS HILL, N.C. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Swimming Team (10-1) completed its dual meet schedule on Saturday afternoon with a pair of decisive wins over NCAA Division II competition. The Wasps defeated the Lions of Mars Hill University by a score of 193-60 and took down the King University Lady Tornado by a 205-34 score.
E&H swimmers finished first overall in 12 of the afternoon's 14 events and put up 1-2-3 finishes in four different races.
The Wasps got things going with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of sophomore Jessica Richardson (Vero Beach, Fla.), sophomore Michaela Nolte (Hillsborough, N.C.), sophomore Allison Fowler (Morristown, Tenn.) and junior Payton Shirey (Seaford, Del.) clocked a 1:53.84 to win by nearly five seconds.
Junior Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.) was second in the 1000-yard freestyle (11:29.16) while Fowler took first in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.26) and freshman Holly Roth (Albuquerque, N.M.) was second.
Richardson (1:02.35) won the 100-yard backstroke with freshman Marina Moore (Thomasville, N.C.) and sophomore Jordan Greenburg (Cordova, Tenn.) finishing in a dead heat for second (1:05.22) to give E&H its first sweep of the day.
The 100-yard breaststroke was another perfect event for the Wasps as Nolte swam a 1:08.79 to win the race by nearly six seconds. Freshman Kelsey Jones (Roanoke, Va.) and sophomore Kia Hamilton (Memphis, Tenn.) were second and third, respectively.
Fowler picked up her second individual win of the day in the 200-yard butterfly, recording a 2:15.84 while junior Nicole Powell (Apex, N.C.) was second. Freshman Mackenzie Lingle (Roanoke, Va.) came in second in the 50-yard freestyle with a swim of :25.72 while Shirey finished third).
Emory & Henry notched back-to-back 1-2-3 finishes in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke. Richardson won the 100-free in :55.12 with Lingle and Roth close behind. Moore claimed first in the 200-back as she clocked a 2:16.42 while Greenburg and junior Sam Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) rounded out the top three.
Nolte continued her dominance in the breaststroke, winning the 200-yard distance with a swim of 2:30.76 as Jones came in third. Roth picked up the victory in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 5:32.17 while Guardalabene was third.
The 100-yard butterfly saw Lingle take the top spot (1:00.71) with Powell finishing third. Fowler made it three individual wins on the afternoon with a time of 2:15.89 in the 200-yard individual medley.
E&H finished the meet off with a crushing victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Nolte, Moore, Richardson and Lingle went 3:46.88 to win the event by 8.38 seconds over Mars Hill.
With the regular season complete, the Wasps now set their sights on the 2015 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center for a fourth-straight year. The three-day event begins on Friday, February 13 and will run until Sunday, February 15 with preliminaries in the morning and finals in the evening.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15