KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The Emory & Henry College Women's Swimming Team (7-1) earned a split in its double-dual meet with King (Tenn.) University and Carson-Newman University Friday evening at the Kingsport Aquatic Center. Both the Lady Tornado and Lady Eagles are members of NCAA Division II, granting athletic scholarships to their student-athletes.
Emory & Henry defeated King by a score of 163-30, winning 10 of the 11 events and going 1-2 in nine races. The Wasps fell to fully-funded Carson-Newman by a 120-85 score, winning two events and finishing second in four others.
E&H was the winner of 20-straight dual meets coming into Friday's action and now has an overall record of 26-2 dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season.
The C-N women defeated King, 155.5-29.5, while the men's competition between the Tornado and Eagles went to Carson-Newman by a margin of 131-19.
E&H started the competition off with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Sophomore Jessica Richardson (Vero Beach, Fla.), freshman Kelsey Jones (Roanoke, Va.), sophomore Allison Fowler (Morristown, Tenn.) and junior Payton Shirey (Seaford, Del.) clocked a time of 1:53.69 to finish just one-tenth of a second ahead of Carson-Newman.
Juinior Taylor Guardalabene (Charlotte, N.C.) turned in a second-place overall finish in the 1000-yard freestyle as she swam an 11:18.62. In the 200-yard butterfly, Wasp junior Nicole Powell (Apex, N.C.) was second while Fowler was third in 2:21.38 and 2:22.09, respectively.
Richardson led Emory & Henry with a second-place overall finish in the 100-yard freestyle (:55.34) while Mackenzie Lingle (Roanoke, Va.) was fourth (:55.84). In the 200-yard backstroke, freshman Marina Moore (Thomasville, N.C.) was third in 2:20.03 while sophomore Jordan Greenburg (Cordova, Tenn.) was close behind in fourth with a time of 2:20.47.
Guardalabene earned another second-place finish, this time in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming a 5:35.42. Freshman Holly Roth (Albuquerque, N.M.) was third in 5:38.39.
The Wasps dominated the 200-yard breaststroke as sophomore Michaela Nolte (Hillsborough, N.C.) earned a victory with a swim of 2:27.37. Jones was third in 2:28.52 while freshman Brianna Chessock (Winston-Salem, N.C.) finished fourth (2:37.88).
Emory & Henry got a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Lingle, Moore, Shirey and Nolte went 1:43.60.
E&H will have its final home meet of the 2014-15 season on Saturday, January 24 when it hosts Greensboro College at the E&H Aquatics Center. The first event is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15