Swimming Leads After Day One of ASC Championships

Brenau University closed day one of the Appalachian Swimming Conference championships Thursday in Christiansburg, Va. leading the field and with a narrow 178-176.5 lead over Wheeling Jesuit University.

The Golden Tigers started the evening with a tie for second place in the 200 Free Relay as the team of Shelby Rumker (SR/Douglas, Ga.), Courtney Hayward (SO/Townsville, AUS), Madison Kostaer and Michelle Billeaud (SR/Lafayette, La.) swam 1:38.71.

In the 500 freestyle, Hayward repeated as conference champion and set a new meet record (5:00.56) Teammate Ella Kleinschmidt (FR/Hervey Bay, Queensland AUS) finished sixth in the 500 freestyle going 5:14.71.

Junior Mary Katherine Jabbia (JR/Slidell, La.) also become a two-time conference champion in the 200 IM (2:09.66) with teammates Talia Sola (2:14.58), Maria Quiroga (2:15.49) and Sarah Frey (FR/Snellville, Ga.) (2:15.84) finishing close behind.

Billeaud captured third in the 50 freestyle (24.15), while Sophie Nasstrom (SO/Stockholm, Sweden) followed at ninth in 25.21.

In the 400 Medley Relay, Brenau showed off their speed as the team placed first, breaking both a team and meet record in a blistering 3:52.53.

"We had a terrific first day, with multiple first place finishes, personal and season best times," said head coach Blaire Bachman. "Heading into the second day in first is a confidence boost and our team is thrilled with the results thus far."

The Golden Tigers continue with day two of the championships at 9 am eastern on Friday.