Led by three national championships, the Emory University men's swimming & diving team finished third at the 2016 NCAA Division III National Swimming & Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C. It was the 17th-consecutive season the Eagles finished in the top-5 and the 13th top-3 finish in program history.
The three national championships tied for the most ever by an Emory squad at a national meet as the 2014 Eagles also captured three event titles. Sophomore Oliver Smith had a terrific meet for the Eagles, playing a part in all three championships. Smith kicked off the four-day meet, taking gold in the 50 Free with a school-record setting time of 19.55 before swimming the final leg in both first place 200 Free and 400 Free Relay teams while also breaking the school record in the 100 Free, swimming a time of 44.43 during preliminaries.
The 200 Free Relay quartet of Smith, sophomore Alexander Hardwick, freshman Trey Kolleck and sophomore Aaron Schwartz captured first place with a blistering 1:19.83 time, breaking the previous school record in the event. Emory closed out the 2016 Division III Championships as Smith, Hardwick, Kolleck and junior Hayes Burdette-Sapp claimed the championship in the 400 Free Relay, swimming a school record time of 2:57.44.
Overall at the 2016 Swimming & Diving Championships, the Eagles scored 340.5 points on the strength of three national titles, 15 All-America winners: 10 individual and five relays and five All-America Honorable Mention certificates, finishing only behind first place Denison University (455.50) and Kenyon College (418.50) in the team standings.
Junior Christian Baker led the team with six All-American certificates in the 500 Free (3rd), 200 Free (3rd), 800 Free Relay (3rd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), 1,650 Free (5th) and 400 Medley Relay (6th).
Earlier in the year, Emory continued its dominance at the University Athletic Association Championships, winning the program's 18th straight conference title. The Eagles posted 1,595.5 points at the meet, 151.5 more than second place Washington University. Emory netted four event titles over the four days with sophomore Chandler Lichtefeld taking home two of the four championships in the 200 and 400 IM. Senior Jared Scheuer won the 200 Back in back-to-back seasons and freshman Thomas Gordon earned a first place showing in the 1,650 Free. In total, the Eagles scored 10 individual and five relay All-UAA finishes.
Emory finished the dual meet portion of the schedule with a record of 2-5 with victories against Birmingham Southern and Sewanee. All five defeats were against either Division I or II opponents.
In other championship style events during the year, the Eagles finished second out of four schools at the Miami Invitational in Oxford, OH and third out of eight teams at the SCAD Invitational in Savannah, GA.
Baker represented the Eagles at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Minneapolis, MN in December. There, Baker won the 400 Free "D" final with a time of 4:03.69.
Baker, as well as Smith, also represented the Eagles away from collegiate competition as the pair made Olympic team trial cuts in the 50 (Smith) and 400 (Baker) Freestyle events and will compete at the Olympic Team Trials meet in Omaha from June 26th through July 2nd.
In addition to their success in the pool this season, Burdette-Sapp and Lichtefeld were honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) by earning Academic All-District honors with Burdette-Sapp being named to the Academic All-America Third Team. He becomes just the 20th member of the Men's Swimming & Diving program to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2015-16 season:
|
NCAA Division III Champion |
||
|
Hayes Burdette-Sapp |
Decatur, GA (Lakeside) |
400 Free Relay |
|
Alexander Hardwick |
Pittsburgh, PA (Upper Saint Clair) |
200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay |
|
Trey Kolleck |
Newburgh, IN (Castle) |
200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay |
|
Aaron Schwartz |
Calabasas, CA (Calabasas) |
200 Free Relay |
|
Oliver Smith |
Milan, MI (Milan) |
50 Free, 400 Free Relay, 200 Free Relay |
|
|
||
|
All-America (Top-Eight Finisher at NCAA Division III Championships) |
||
|
Christian Baker |
Farragut, TN (Farragut) |
500 Free (3rd), 200 Free (3rd), 800 Free Relay (3rd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), 1,650 Free (5th), 400 Medley Relay (6th) |
|
Hayes Burdette-Sapp |
Decatur, GA (Lakeside) |
400 Free Relay (1st), 800 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Charlotte, NC (South Mecklenburg) |
200 Medley Relay (3rd), 400 Medley Relay (6th) |
|
|
Thomas Gordon |
Raleigh, NC (Enloe) |
800 Free Relay (3rd), 500 Free (4th), 200 Free (4th), 1,650 Free (4th) |
|
Alexander Hardwick |
Pittsburgh, PA (Upper Saint Clair) |
200 Free Relay (1st), 400 Free Relay (1st), 400 Medley Relay (6th) |
|
Centennial, CO (Smoky Hill) |
800 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
|
Trey Kolleck |
Newburgh, IN (Castle) |
200 Free Relay (1st), 400 Free Relay (1st) |
|
Chandler Lichtefeld |
Crestwood, KY (Trinity) |
200 IM (5th) |
|
Aaron Schwartz |
Calabasas, CA (Calabasas) |
200 Free Relay (1st) |
|
Oliver Smith |
Milan, MI (Milan) |
50 Free (1st), 400 Free Relay (1st), 200 Free Relay (1st), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), 100 Free (5th) |
|
Dresher, PA (Upper Dublin) |
200 Medley Relay (3rd), 400 Medley Relay (6th), 100 Breast (7th) |
|
|
|
||
|
All-America Honorable Mention (Finished 9th – 16th at NCAA Division III Championships) |
||
|
Mitchell Cooper |
Charlotte, NC (South Mecklenburg) |
200 IM (10th) |
|
Alexander Hardwick |
Pittsburgh, PA (Upper Saint Clair) |
100 Free (14th) |
|
Trey Kolleck |
Newburgh, IN (Castle) |
50 Free (16th) |
|
Chandler Lichtefeld |
Crestwood, KY (Trinity) |
400 IM (14th) |
|
Jared Scheuer |
Kingwood, TX (Kingwood) |
200 Back (11th) |
|
|
||
|
UAA Champion |
||
|
Thomas Gordon |
Raleigh, NC (Enloe) |
1,650 Free |
|
Chandler Lichtefeld |
Crestwood, KY (Trinity) |
200 IM, 400 IM |
|
Jared Scheuer |
Kingwood, TX (Kingwood) |
200 Back |
|
|
||
|
All-UAA (Top-Three Finisher at UAA Championships) |
||
|
Christian Baker |
Farragut, TN (Farragut) |
500 Free (2nd), 1,650 Free (2nd), 400 Medley Relay (2nd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), 800 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Hayes Burdette-Sapp |
Decatur, GA (Lakeside) |
800 Free Relay (3rd), 400 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Mitchell Cooper |
Charlotte, NC (South Mecklenburg) |
100 Back (2nd), 400 Medley Relay (2nd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), 800 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Troy, MI (Troy) |
100 Back (3rd) |
|
|
Thomas Gordon |
Raleigh, NC (Enloe) |
1,650 Free (1st), 500 Free (3rd) |
|
Alexander Hardwick |
Pittsburgh, PA (Upper Saint Clair) |
200 Free Relay (2nd), 400 Medley Relay (2nd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), 400 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Alex Kohlman |
Centennial, CO (Smoky Hill) |
200 Free Relay (2nd), 800 Free Relay (3rd), 400 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Trey Kolleck |
Newburgh, IN (Castle) |
100 Free (3rd), 400 Free Relay (3rd) |
|
Chandler Lichtefeld |
Crestwood, KY (Trinity) |
200 IM (1st), 400 IM (1st) |
|
Jared Scheuer |
Kingwood, TX (Kingwood) |
200 Back (1st) |
|
Aaron Schwartz |
Calabasas, CA (Calabasas) |
200 Free Relay (2nd) |
|
Cooper Tollen |
Dresher, PA (Upper Dublin) |
400 Medley Relay (2nd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd) |
|
|
||
|
CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large |
||
|
Hayes Burdette-Sapp |
Decatur, GA (Lakeside) |
|
|
|
||
|
CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large |
||
|
Hayes Burdette-Sapp |
Decatur, GA (Lakeside) |
|
|
Chandler Lichtefeld |
Crestwood, KY (Trinity) |
|
|
|
||
|
UAA Athletes of the Week |
||
|
Mitchell Cooper |
Charlotte, NC (South Mecklenburg) |
Oct. 5th, Nov. 16th, Jan. 11th |
|
Christian Baker |
Farragut, TN (Farragut) |
Oct. 26th, Dec. 7th, Feb. 1st |
|
Oliver Smith |
Milan, MI (Milan) |
Jan. 25th, Mar. 21st |
The following were the top marks by Emory swimmers and divers during the 2015-16 season:
|
50 Free |
Oliver Smith |
19.55* |
NCAA Championships |
|
100 Free |
Oliver Smith |
44.43* |
NCAA Championships |
|
200 Free |
Christian Baker |
1:37.83 |
NCAA Championships |
|
500 Free |
Christian Baker |
4:22.88* |
NCAA Championships |
|
1000 Free |
Mitchell Cooper |
9:38.31 |
vs. Birmingham Southern |
|
1650 Free |
Christian Baker |
15:20.79* |
Miami Invitational |
|
100 Back |
Mitchell Cooper |
49.01 |
Miami Invitational |
|
200 Back |
Jared Scheuer |
1:48.24 |
NCAA Championships |
|
100 Breast |
Cooper Tollen |
55.27 |
NCAA Championships |
|
200 Breast |
Chandler Lichtefeld |
2:03.03 |
NCAA Championships |
|
100 Fly |
Christian Baker |
50.19 |
vs. Sewanee |
|
200 Fly |
Christian Baker |
1:49.18 |
Miami Invitational |
|
200 IM |
Mitchell Cooper |
1:48.65 |
Miami Invitational |
|
400 IM |
Mitchell Cooper |
3:57.41 |
Miami Invitational |
|
200 Free Relay |
Trey Kolleck, Alexander Hardwick, Aaron Schwartz, Oliver Smith |
1:19.83* |
NCAA Championships |
|
200 Medley Relay |
Mitchell Cooper, Cooper Tollen, Christian Baker, Oliver Smith |
1:28.98 |
NCAA Championships |
|
400 Free Relay |
Alexander Hardwick, Trey Kolleck, Hayes Burdette-Sapp, Oliver Smith |
2:57.44* |
NCAA Championships |
|
400 Medley Relay |
Mitchell Cooper, Cooper Tollen, Christian Baker, Alexander Hardwick |
3:17.45 |
NCAA Championships |
|
800 Free Relay |
Christian Baker, Thomas Gordon, Alex Kohlman, Hayes Burdette-Sapp |
6:35.36* |
NCAA Championships |
* - Indicates School Record