The Emory University swimming and diving teams earned a pair of victories in their final home meet of the season on Saturday afternoon, as both the men and women claimed wins over the Savannah College of Art and Design on 'Senior Day' at the Woodruff Physical Education Center.
Emory's men claimed a 146-105 win over the Bees (a NAIA school), winning 14 of the 16 events during the day. Meanwhile, the Eagle women finished first in all but one of their 16 events, earning a 153-117 victory.
Emory senior Miller Douglas earned two of the five men's NCAA provisional qualifying times on the day, winning the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:51.26, and the 400-yard individual medley with a mark of 4:05.74. Freshman Matt Wu finished just behind Douglas in the 400 IM, taking second place with a 'B' cut time of 4:06.60. Two other seniors on the men's side made the most of their final meet at the WoodPEC, as Justin Beegle won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:06.40, and Ben Lee won the three-meter dive with a score of 288.00, both meeting NCAA qualifying standards. Lee also won the one-meter dive with a score of 247.05.
The Eagles swept both of the men's relays on Saturday, with the all-senior lineup of Douglas, Beegle, Stephen Czaja and Richard Upton finishing first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:34.20. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, juniors Jake Stephens, Ross Spock, Ryan Bass and freshman Matt Kuhlik won with a time of 1:24.65.
Freshman Eagan Zettlemoyer earned a pair of first-place finishes, winning the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:44.76 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:47.38. Other top finishers for the Emory men on Saturday included freshman Andrew Wilson in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.27), sophomore Kevin Flood in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:10.74), Spock in the 50-yard freestyle (21.13 seconds), freshman Jared Scheuer in the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.08) and Stephens in the 100-yard butterfly (51.21 seconds).
The Emory women totaled 12 NCAA qualifying performances of their own during the team victory, led by senior Leslie Hackler, who accounted for three. Hackler finished first in both individual butterfly events, winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.44 seconds and the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.69. She also swam on the third leg of the Eagles' 200-yard medley relay team, working with fellow seniors Anna Dobben, Renee Rosenkranz, and Ann Wolber to win the event with a time of 1:47.01. All three times were good enough for NCAA 'B' cuts.
The same four seniors also ended the meet with a top finish, as Rosenkranz, Wolber, Hackler and Dobben won the 200-yard freestyle relay in a mark of 1:37.40.
Emory also turned in a strong day on both boards in the diving events. Junior Sarah Greene won both events with NCAA qualifying scores, finishing first in the 1-meter dive (269.40) and the 3-meter dive (266.18). Two other Emory divers recorded qualifying scores in the one-meter dive, with junior Annabel Enquist finishing second (263.10) and freshman Kellen Hope taking third (256.20).
A pair of Eagles recorded 'B' cut times in the 400-yard individual medley, as junior Brooke Woodward won the event with a time of 4:34.09, and sophomore Michelle York claimed third in a mark of 4:35.11. Other 'B' cut times on the day came from junior Jennifer Pak in the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.80), junior Sadie Nennig in the 100-yard backstroke (58.05 seconds), and junior Kylie McKenzie in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.71), all of whom finished first in their respective events. Sophomore Nancy Larson was the top finisher in the both the 100-yard freestyle (52.32 seconds) and the 50-yard freestyle (24.17 seconds), while Rosenkranz (1:06.23 in the 100-yard breaststroke), sophomore McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg (10:23.50 in the 1,000-yard freestyle) and freshman Ellie Thompson (2:05.76 in the 200-yard backstroke) all claimed first-place in their races as well.
With the victories, the Emory men improved to 1-5 on the season, while the women now stand at 4-2 in dual meets. The SCAD men dropped to 1-5 for the campaign, and the women to 2-6, with the losses.
Saturday's meet also marked the final career home meet for 19 Emory seniors – Beegle, Czaja, Dobben, Douglas, Theresa Gallagher, Hackler, Brett Kinsey, Lee, Taryn Lushinsky, Mia Michalak, Stephanie Molchan, Samantha Neumann, Peter O'Brien, Rosenkranz, Jacqueline Schneider, Jeff Simpson, Kolin Smialek, Upton, and Wolber. The group has combined for 47 All-America certificates during their collegiate careers.
Emory's seniors were honored with a special 'Senior Day' ceremony prior to the start of the meet.
The Eagles will be back in action in two weeks, traveling across town to face NCAA Division I Georgia Tech on Saturday, February 2nd at 11:00 AM. The meet will be the final dual meet of the year for Emory.