BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – The Emory & Henry University Women's Swimming Team picked the team victory at the Bulldog Invitational, hosted by Union Commonwealth University over the weekend. The Wasps posted 12 top-three finishes in the meet and broke a total of three school records.

The Basics
EVENT – Bulldog Invitational
HOST – Union Commonwealth University
FINAL RESULT – 1st/7
LOCATION – Barbourville, Kentucky
VENUE – Union Center for Health & Learning

Wednesday's Results
- Event 1 – 800-Yard Freestyle Relay – Junior Mackenzie Barnett (Monroe Township, N.J.), senior Paige Gelenski (Boca Raton, Fla.), junior Maggie Robinson (Canton, Ga.) and junior Samantha Pepevnik (Porsgrunn, NORWAY) swam an 8:02.93 to finish second. The Wasps' "B" Relay was fourth in 8:30.58.

Thursday's Results
- Event 3 – 200-Yard Freestyle Relay – Christensen, Robinson, sophomore Madison Graham (Radford, Va.), and freshman Aida Matute Moreno (Viladecans, SPAIN) were fourth with a time of 1:45.57 while the "B" Relay was eighth (1:58.87).
- Event 5 – 500-Yard Freestyle – Barnett took runner-up honors, posting a 5:12.45 as senior Peyton Helscher (Simi Valley, Calif.) was 12th (5:36.39) and sophomore Jaxon Thurman (Ooltewah, Tenn.) was 14th (5:37.97). Robinson finished 17th in the preliminaries as the first alternate while freshman Kursten Thomas (Marion, Va.) was 19th, junior Vivian Vanderpool (Elgin, Okla.) was 23rd and junior Bri Digby (Carrollton, Va.) was 24th.
- Event 7 – 200-Yard Individual Medley – Pepevnik placed second, touching the wall in 2:11.39 as Gelenski was fourth in 2:13.93. Senior Rachel Ritter (Gibsonville, N.C.) was 11th at 2:22.51 as freshman Tirayan Bartlett (Woodbridge, Va.) placed 13th in 2:26.96.
- Event 9 – 50-Yard Freestyle – Christensen earned the win, with a school-record time of 23.89 seconds and later swam another record performance in a time trial of 23.87 seconds. Barnett took third in 24.91 seconds as Robinson was ninth (:26.33) and Matute was 14th (:27.02). Ritter was 17th as the first alternate in the preliminaries while freshman Sierra Carson (Pasadena, Md.) placed 21st.
- Event 11 – 200-Yard Medley Relay – Pepevnik, Ritter, Gelenski and Christensen placed third at 1:15.68. The "B" Relay was sixth in 2:08.41.

Friday's Results
- Event 13 – 400-Yard Individual Medley – Pepevnik swam a 4:39.40 to earn another second-place finish with Gelenski placing fifth in 4:47.94. Bartlett and Graham took 12th and 13th, respectively in 5:23.33 and 5:42.67.
- Event 15 – 100-Yard Butterfly – Gelenski was third with a time of 59.42 seconds as Christensen was .06 behind at 59.48 in fourth. Matute was ninth (1:06.46), Vanderpool was 11th (1:16.55) and Digby was 12th (1:24.97).
- Event 17 – 200-Yard Freestyle – Thurman led the way with a 10th-place finish in 2:04.72 while Robinson was 11th in 2:05.17 and Thomas was 16th in 2:11.33.
- Event 19 – 100-Yard Breaststroke – Ritter placed fifth in 1:09.12 with Christensen at sixth in 1:09.76. Thurman and Bartlett were 13th (1:17.26) and 14th (1:18.26), respectively.
- Event 21 – 100-Yard Backstroke – Pepevnik grabbed second in :59.04 with Matute taking fourth (1:01.98) and Helscher seventh (1:05.15). Thomas was 11th at 1:08.41 while Graham was 14th (1:15.00).

Saturday's Results
- Event 23 – 400-Yard Medley Relay – Pepevnik, Ritter, Gelenski and Barnett placed second with a time of 4:01.45. The "B" Relay was seventh in 4:41.82
- Event 25 – 1,650-Yard Freestyle – Barnett earned the victory, swimming a 17:45.86, as Helscher was eighth (19:13.30), Thurman was 11th (19:36.05) and Digby was 15th (23:04.84).
- Event 27 – 200-Yard Backstroke – Pepevnik grabbed the victory with a time of 2:05.57. Her swim of 2:05.26 in the preliminaries was good for a school record. Matute was the runner-up in 2:12.30 while Helscher placed sixth at 2:23.47.
- Event 29 – 100-Yard Freestyle – Christensen notched another win with a school-record swim of 52.40 seconds while Barnett was seventh in 54.92 seconds. Robinson took ninth in :57.06 with Thomas finishing as the first alternate in 17th. Graham and Carson were 23rd and 24th, respectively in the prelims.
- Event 31 – 200-Yard Breaststroke – Ritter placed sixth at 2:33.56 as Bartlett was 11th (2:43.44).
- Event 33 – 200-Yard Butterfly – Gelenski was third at 2:11. 40 with Graham placing sixth in 2:47.56 and Vanderpool taking seventh in 2:58.17.
- Event 35 – 400-Yard Freestyle Relay – Christensen, Helscher, Robinson, and Barnett swam a 3:43.26 to place fourth. The "B" Relay was eighth in 3:59.16.

Up Next
- Emory & Henry will return to the poll on Saturday, January 11. The Wasps are scheduled to visit Mars Hill University for a double dual with the Lions and the Bobcats of Lees-McRae College.

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