Liberty University
CCSA Swimming and Diving Championships
Lady Flames Remain in 2nd Following Day 2 at CCSA Meet
2/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
The Liberty swimming & diving team remains in second place following the second day of the 2016 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships, held at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Defending champion Florida Gulf Coast leads the overall team standings with 610 points, with Liberty is second place at 468. Georgia Southern is third overall with 349 points, followed by Garnder-Webb (277), Incarnate Word (266) and Campbell (257) in that order.
For the day, Liberty had 13 finals swims (7 – A, 3 – B, 3- C), posting 12 lifetime-bests, two NCAA B cuts and four podium finishes (three individual, one relay).
Kristin VanDeventer started off the finals session with a third-place finish in the 500 free A final, swimming 4:52.00. It was her second career CCSA podium finish. Alicia Finnigan took seventh place in 4:58.69. In the B final, Ashlee Sall swam 5:01.13 for 12th overall, while Hannah Wakeley (5:01.92) placed 13th and Elizabeth Magnusson's lifetime-best 5:01.99 earned 14th place.
Prudence Rooker lowered her lifetime best to 2:02.29 to place sixth in the 200 IM A final, while Victoria Tschoke claimed eighth place with a 2:04.19 clocking. Rooker's 2:02.29 places her second on Liberty's all-time top five list. Ranndi Grubbs swam 2:06.16 at night, good for 19th overall, while Morgan Noonan went 2:07.48 for 22nd.
Liberty placed two swimmers on the podium in the 50 free, as Kendall Hough (22.67) and Rachel Hoeve (22.99) both swam lifetime bests and NCAA B cuts, placing second and third, respectively. FGCU's Katie Latham narrowly won, in 22.64. Hough's time was the second-best in program history. Ricki Lee Hodges placed eighth overall in 23.76. Chelsea Pond clocked a lifetime-best 23.58 to win the C final, finishing 17th overall.
The Lady Flames earned second place in the 200 free relay to wrap up the evening. The team of Kendall Hough (22.98), Rachel Hoeve (22.43), Chelsea Pond (23.00) and Prudence Rooker (22.67) finished in 1:31.08, trailing only Florida Gulf Coast's 1:30.62.
Preliminary Round Recap
The Lady Flames opened the morning by placing two in the 500 free A final, and three in the B final. VanDeventer led the way, qualifying fifth in 4:52.52. Finnigan swam a lifetime-best 4:57.68, good for seventh position. Sall (lifetime-best 5:00.50), Wakeley (5:02.24) and Magnusson (5:02.88) qualified 12th through 14th, in that order. Dani Jordan turned in a collegiate-best 5:10.86 clocking.
Liberty added two A finalists from 200 IM heats, starting with Rooker who finished sixth in a personal-best 2:02.37. Tschoke went 2:03.03 for seventh. Noonan's lifetime-best 2:06.20 placed her 18th, while Grubbs joined her in making the C final, taking 23rd in 2:07.29. Anna Dickinson finished 33rd overall in 2:11.29.
Hough provided the highlight of the morning, posting the top 50 free time, a lifetime-best, NCAA B cut-22.74. Hoeve was third in 23.00, while Hodges came in seventh in 23.57. Hoeve and Hodges both set lifetime bests in the morning. Pond qualified for the C final, in 23.90. Shelby Black placed 27th overall in a lifetime-best 24.18, while Danielle Boothe (23.85) and Siani Null (24.69) both posted best times as exhibition swimmers.
Tomorrow's action on day three of the 2016 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships begins at 10 a.m. with preliminary heats of the 400 individual medley. Friday's program will also feature the 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 back, one-meter diving and 400 medley relay.
