BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Swimming Team won five of the nine events Saturday as it claimed first at the Union College Winter Invitational. The Wasps took down another six school records, making the total 18 new best marks on the weekend. Emory & Henry was the only non-scholarship program in the field but still came away with wins in all five relays and 13 of 18 total events.
E&H started the day off with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Freshman Jessica Richardson (Vero Beach, Fla.), freshman Michaela Nolte (Hillsborough, N.C.), sophomore Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.) and sophomore Payton Shirey (Seaford, Del.) turned in a time of 1:49.57 for a new record.
The Wasps kept rolling as they went 1-2-4 in the 400-yard individual medley. Freshman Allison Fowler (Morristown, Tenn.) swam a 4:38.27 to finish first and shatter the previous best time by nearly eight seconds. Freshman Liz Kleveno (Fredericksburg, Va.) and sophomore Nicole Powell (Apex, N.C.) were second and fourth, respectively for Emory & Henry.
Shirey and Nolte went 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle with Shirey swimming a :24.44. Freshman Kia Hamilton (Memphis, Tenn.) was seventh for the Wasps. In the 100-yard backstroke, Richardson came within .4 seconds of a new school record as she finished third while freshman Olivia Shumate (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) was fourth and freshman Jordan Greenburg (Cordova, Tenn.) was fifth.
Sophomore Sam Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) dropped 5.07 seconds from her preliminary swim in the 200-yard freestyle, improving from sixth-place to finish third.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Nolte tallied two program best times, going 2:27.51 in the prelims and 2:25.83 in the finals. Kleveno was third while Hamilton and sophomore Sophia Alonge (Vienna, Va.) were seventh and eighth, to give the Wasps four of the top eight swimmers in the event.
Guardalabene broke her own record in the 100-yard butterfly twice, going :59.89 and :59.84 in the prelims and finals, respectively to finish second while Shirey turned in a third-place finish. Powell was third in the 1650-yard freestyle and freshman Lauren Blakey (Davidson, N.C.) was sixth.
The Wasps finished things off with the 400-yard freestyle relay and another school record. Nolte, Shirey, Fowler and Richardson went 3:34.01 to beat their own record by almost 8.5 seconds.
Emory & Henry has completed the fall portion of its schedule and will next see competition as it travels back to Union on Saturday, January 18. The Wasps will take their annual winter training trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida during the first week of January.
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