Men and Women Finish Top 10 at Nationals
ST. PETERS, Mo. – Asbury’s men had their best finish in school history at the 2011 NAIA Swimming & Diving National Championships as the Eagles’ men and women both placed in the top ten for the first time since 2008. The men finished with 144 points, good for 8th place and the women placed 10th with 165 points. Cal Baptist won the girl’s title with 616 points while Fresno Pacific took the men’s championship with 698.5 points.
Freshman Daniel Bowman capped off his stellar season with 2nd and 8th place finishes on Saturday night. Bowman broke the school record in the 1650 free with a time of 15:40.93, breaking his own record by an astounding 35 seconds. He would go on to place 8th in the 200 fly with a time of 1:55.08. He also placed 3rd in the 500 free earlier in the week.
Sophomore Trevor Ehrenheim placed 12th in the 200 back on Saturday with a time of 1:54.13. He was 15th after morning prelims after posting a 1:55.37. Senior Matt Hood took 16th in the 100 free with a 46.84, he qualified 14th with a 46.67. Both Hood and Ehrenheim were part of the 400 free relay team that finished 8th with a 3:12.89. Nathan Runtas and Pat Armstrong were also part of that relay squad.
Sophomore Elizabeth Johns took 6th in the 1650 free, breaking a school record in the process, by posting a 17:39.64. She shattered the previous school record by more than 13 seconds. Senior Lindsay Keyes took 15th in the same event, posting an 18:20.74.
Junior Larissa Martin finished 6th in the 200 fly with a 2:09.25 after she qualified 6th in the morning prelims with a 2:09.59. A pair of freshman finished in the top 16 of their respective events as Katie Duncan took 13th in the 200 back and Sarah Ritter placed 15th in the 100 free. Duncan was the final qualifier during prelims with a 2:10.64 but moved to 13 in the finals after posting a 2:11.08. Ritter swam a 54.60 in finals after qualifying 14th in prelims with a 54.21.
The women’s 400 free relay team of Ellen Worsham, Allie Hubach, Duncan and Ritter took home 9th place, swimming a 3:36.92. The quartet just missed out on qualifying for the “A” final after posting a 3:37.44 in prelims, Lindenwood was the 8th and final qualifier with a time of 3:37.28. Freshman Larissa Meadows also just missed out on reaching finals, after posting a 2:30.95 in the 200 breast prelims, just .03 behind the final “B” final qualifier.
During the meet the NAIA announced the 2011 Daktronics Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athletes. Five Eagles were named to the team: seniors Jordan Crouse (Elizabeth City, N.C.), Matt Hood (Beavercreek, Ohio), Mary Peterson (O’Fallon, Ill.), Allie Hubach (Montvale, Va.), and junior Larissa Martin (Paris, Ky.). All members must be at least a junior with a 3.5 cumulative GPA.
