GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Swimming Team sits in second place after Day One of the 2016 ODAC Championships. The Wasps contested five events, on Friday, claiming one conference championship and a trio of runner-up finishes.
In the first event of the night, the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Wasps team of junior Michaela Nolte (Hillsborough, N.C.), junior Jessica Richardson (Vero Beach, Fla.), sophomore Marina Moore (Thomasville, N.C.) and sophomore Mackenzie Lingle (Roanoke, Va.) swam a 1:36.39 to finish second, setting a new school record in the process.
Senior Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.) went 5:14.67 in the 500-yard freestyle, good for fifth place. Sophomore Holly Roth (Albuquerque, N.M.) and junior Jordan Greenburg (Cordova, Tenn.) finished ninth (5:21.13) and 11th (5:26.61), respectively.
Emory & Henry put two swimmers in the top eight of the 200-yard individual medley as Lingle (2:12.88) took fifth and freshman Claire Goodrum (Versailles, Ky.) was sixth (2:15.03). Sophomores Brianna Chessock (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Kelsey Jones (Roanoke, Va.) were ninth and 10th, swimming in the consolation finals, respectively.
Nolte made it back-to-back championships in the 50-yard freestyle with an ODAC-record time of :23.90. Richardson was a fingertip behind, swimming a :23.92 to finish second while Moore was seventh in :24.70. Freshman Adaira Brewer (Raleigh, N.C.) and senior Sam Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) finished 14th and 15th in the race.
The final event of the night was the 400-yard medley relay. The E&H team of Richardson, Nolte, Goodrum and Lingle turned in a time of 3:53.66 to finish second.
Emory & Henry will compete in Day Two of the 2016 ODAC Championships beginning at 10:00 a.m., Saturday. Saturday's finals will begin at 6:00 p.m.
PRELIMINARY RECAP
Event 1 – 200-yard Freestyle Relay – E&H is seeded second going into tonight's finals. The team of senior Nicole Powell (Apex, N.C.), senior Taylor Guardalabene, sophomore Marina Moore and freshman Adaira Brewer swam a 1:41.95.
Event 3 – 500-yard Freestyle – Guardalabene qualified for the championship final with a time of 5:17.06 while sophomore Holly Roth and junior Jordan Greenburg will swim in the Consolation Final tonight.
Event 5 – 200-yard Individual Medley – Sophomore Mackenzie Lingle and freshman Claire Goodrum are in the Championship Final after swims of 2:13.42 and 2:14.93, respectively. Sophomores Brianna Chessock and Kelsey Jones have qualified for the Consolation final.
Event 7 – 50-yard Freestyle – Junior Jessica Richardson has the top time (:24.17) going into tonight's final. Junior Michaela Nolte and Moore have also made the Championship Final. Senior Sam Brown and Brewer will swim in the Consolation Final.
Event 9 – 400-yard Medley Relay – Emory & Henry is seeded second (4:13.64) after this morning's swim. Moore, Chessock, Powell and Jones posted the time to put the Wasps in the center of the pool for this evening's finals.
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-photo courtesy of Joe Matthews