• 2022 & 2023 National Runners-Up
  • 12-time National Champions
  • 40 Individual National Championships
  • 32 Relay National Championships
  • 153 Individual All-Americans
  • 31 UAA Championships
  • 29 Postgraduate Scholars

2003-04 Women's Swimming & Diving Season Recap

Emory University finished second at the NCAA Division III national swimming and diving championships, the best finish in school history. Emory has equaled or improved on the previous year's finish at the nationals for seven consecutive years.

A school-record 14 swimmers earned All-America honors in nine different individual events and all five relay events, resulting in 33 All-America certificates. Sophomores Holly Hinz and Samantha White placed first and second respectively in the 500-yard freestyle. Hinz became the seventh national champion in school history and the first ever in the 500 free.

Emory won the University Athletic Association title for the sixth consecutive year and 12th time in 14 years. The consecutive streak is the longest in UAA history. The Eagles won the meet by 548 points, the largest margin of victory in UAA history, with a total of 1,182 points. Individual honors included:

All America
Hillary Lane Deerfield, IL (Deerfield) 5 events
Jamie Lawler Winchester, VA (Nevqua Valley) 4 events
Samantha White Silver Spring, MD (Blake) 4 events
Holly Hinz Marietta, GA (Westminster School) 3 events
Dana Inserra Seabrook, TX (Clear Lake) 3 events
Jessica Burley Bend, OR (Bend) 2 events
Leigh Campbell Chapel Hill, NC (East Chapel Hill) 1 event
Sarah Gardiner Milwaukee, WI (Whitefish Bay) 1 event
Jessica Ivry Orinda, CA (Miramonte) 1 event
Julia Mavrodin Cherry Hill, NJ (Cherry Hill East) 1 event
Sarah Nicholson Lake Oswego, OR (Jesuit) 1 event
Erin Sheey Columbus, IN (Columbus North) 1 event
Liz Shields Manomet, MA (Sacred Heart) 1 event
Alexis Smith Strafford, NH (Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) 1 event
 
All America (Honorable Mention):
Dana Inserra Seabrook, TX (Clear Lake) 2 events
Jamie Lawler Winchester, VA (Nevqua Valley) 2 events
Tracy Shessler Brighton, CO (Bishop Fenwick) 2 events
Jessica Burley Bend, OR (Bend) 1 event
Leigh Campbell Chapel Hill, NC (East Chapel Hill) 1 event
Sarah Gardiner Milwaukee, WI (Whitefish Bay) 1 event
Holly Hinz Marietta, GA (Westminster School) 1 event
Jessica Ivry Orinda, CA (Miramonte) 1 event
Hillary Lane Deerfield, IL (Deerfield) 1 event
Julia Mavrodin Cherry Hill, NJ (Cherry Hill East) 1 event
Sarah Nicholson Lake Oswego, OR (Jesuit) 1 event
Kari Schneibel Apple Valley, MN (Rosemount) 1 event
Alexis Smith Strafford, NH (Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) 1 event
Donely Zifkin Evanston, IL (Evanston Township) 1 event
 
Conference Champion (University Athletic Association)
Hillary Lane Deerfield, IL (Deerfield) 5 events
Kari Schneibel Apple Valley, MN (Rosemount) 4 events
Jessica Burley Bend, OR (Bend) 3 events
Alexis Smith Strafford, NH (Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) 3 events
Holly Hinz Marietta, GA (Westminster School) 2 events
Jessica Ivry Orinda, CA (Miramonte) 2 events
Jennifer Kanetsky Willoughby, OH (Notre Dame Latin School) 2 events
Sarah Nicholson Lake Oswego, OR (Jesuit) 2 events
Karyn Henderson Solon, OH (Solon) 1 event
Jamie Lawler Winchester, VA (Nevqua Valley) 1 event
Kristen Pleil Durham, NC (Northern) 1 event
Samantha White Silver Spring, MD (Blake) 1 event
 
All-Conference (University Athletic Association)
Hillary Lane Deerfield, IL (Deerfield) 6 events
Jessica Burley Bend, OR (Bend) 5 events
Alexis Smith Strafford, NH (Coe-Brown Northwood Academy) 5 events
Kari Schneibel Apple Valley, MN (Rosemount) 4 events
Holly Hinz Marietta, GA (Westminster School) 3 events
Jessica Ivry Orinda, CA (Miramonte) 3 events
Julia Mavrodin Cherry Hill, NJ (Cherry Hill East) 3 events
Samantha White Silver Spring, MD (Blake) 3 events
Erin Graves Lake Mary, FL (Bishop Moore Catholic) 2 events
Dana Inserra Seabrook, TX (Clear Lake) 2 events
Jennifer Kanetsky Willoughby, OH (Notre Dame Latin School) 2 events
Jamie Lawler Winchester, VA (Nevqua Valley) 2 events
Sarah Nicholson Lake Oswego, OR (Jesuit) 2 events
Erika Ciszczon North Ridgeville, OH (Magnificat) 1 event
Sarah Gardiner Milwaukee, WI (Whitefish Bay) 1 event
Karyn Henderson Solon, OH (Solon) 1 event
Kristen Pleil Durham, NC (Northern) 1 event
 
Team Awards (Emory University)
Holly Hinz Marietta, GA (Westminster School) Most Valuable Performer
Suzanna Zifkin Evanston, IL (Evanston Township) Most Improved Performer
Tracy Shessler Brighton, CO (Bishop Fenwick) Most Competitive Performer
Jamie Lawler Winchester, VA (Nevqua Valley) Rookie of the Year

 

Jessica Burley
Burley, a senior, increased her career All-America total to five as a member of the 200- and 800-yard freestyle relays at the national meet. Burley finished second in the 200-yard freestyle at the conference championships. She was also a member of all three conference champion freestyle relays. Burley is the fourth-fastest individual in school history in the 200 free.

Leigh Campbell
Junior Leigh Campbell earned All-America honors in the 1650-yard freestyle for the third consecutive year. Her fourth-place finish in the 1650 at the NCAA nationals increased her career All-America total to 12, the third most in school history. Campbell also received All-America honorable mention recognition in the 500-yard freestyle.

Sarah Gardiner
Gardiner, a sophomore, was eighth in the 200-yard backstroke at the national championships. She earned All-America recognition in the 200 back and All-America honorable mention recognition in the 400-yard individual medley. Gardiner is the third-fastest individual in school history in the 200 back.

Holly Hinz
Hinz, a sophomore, won the 500-yard freestyle event at the NCAA championships to become the seventh Eagle ever to win an individual national crown. She is the first Emory swimmer to win the national title in the 500 free. Her winning time of 4:58.31 was a personal best and the second fastest in school history. At nationals, she finished second in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:30.25, the ninth-fastest time in Emory history. Hinz swam a leg on Emory's 800-yard freestyle relay that finished fifth. Hinz earned All-America honors in all three events, increasing her career total to four. She earned All-America honorable mention recognition in the 1650-yard freestyle. Hinz was conference champion in the 400 IM. Hinz was given the team's Most Valuable Performer award. . She was second on the team out of 35 competitors in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Dana Inserra
Inserra, a junior, earned All-America honors by placing fifth in the 200-yard butterfly at the national championships. She was also a member of the All-American 400-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays. Inserra received All-America honorable mention by finishing 11th in the 100-yard fly. Her time in that event was the fastest time on the team this season. Inserra was second in both butterfly events at the conference championships. She is the second-fastest individual in school history in the 200 fly.

Jessica Ivry
Ivry received her first All-America citation by swimming the breaststroke leg of the third-place 200-yard medley relay at the national championships. The freshman also earned All-America honorable mention recognition in the 100-yard breaststroke. Ivry was the conference champion in the 100 breaststroke. She is the fourth-fastest individual in that event in school history.

Hillary Lane
Junior Hillary Lane earned five All-America citations and was a five-time conference champion. She has 12 career All-America certificates, the third most in school history. Lane placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships. Her time of 52.07 seconds in the 100 free broke the school record. She was a member of the All-American 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays and the 200- and 400-yard medley relays. Lane was conference champion in the 50 free and on four relays. She led the team in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Jamie Lawler
Freshman Jamie Lawler placed sixth in the 100-yard backstroke at the national championships. Her time of 58 seconds flat broke the school record. She was also a member of the All-American 200- and 400-yard medley relays and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Lawler earned All-America honorable mention recognition in the 50-yard freestyle. She was voted the team's Rookie of the Year.

Julia Mavrodin
Junior Julia Mavrodin earned All-America recognition in the 400-yard individual medley at the national championships for the second year in a row. She also received All-America honorable mention honors in the 200-yard breaststroke. Mavrodin finished second at the conference championships in the 200 breaststroke. Her time was the fastest time on the team in that event this season.

Sarah Nicholson
Nicholson was a member of the sixth-place 200-yard freestyle relay at the national championships where she earned her first All-America honor. The freshman also received All-America honorable mention recognition for placing 15th in the 100-yard backstroke. Nicholson was a member of the conference champion 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays. She was fourth on the team out of 35 competitors in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Kari Schneibel
Schneibel was accorded honorable mention All-America status after finishing 14th in the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA championships. She is the fourth-fastest individual in school history in that event. She was ninth on the team out of 35 competitors in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Erin Sheehy
Sheehy, a freshman, was fourth in the 200-yard butterfly at the national championships. That was the highest Emory finish in that event in school history. Her time of 2:05.25 broke the school record.

Tracy Shessler
Shessler was accorded honorable mention All-America status in two events. At the NCAA championships, she finished 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke and 14th in the 400-yard individual medley. Shessler is the fifth-fastest individual in school history in the 100 breaststroke and the sixth-fastest individual in the 400 individual medley. She was sixth on the team out of 35 competitors in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Liz Shields
Junior Liz Shields earned her third career All-America certificate by swimming a leg on the 200-yard medley relay. She had the fourth fastest 100-yard butterfly time on the team this season. Shields was seventh on the team out of 35 competitors in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Alexis Smith
Smith earned her first All-America honor as a member of the seventh-place 400-yard medley relay at the national championships. The freshman received All-America honorable mention recognition in the 200-yard individual medley by finishing 15th in the nation. Smith was conference champion in three events: 200-yard IM, 400-yard IM and 100-yard breaststroke. Her time of 2:09.02 in the 200 IM was the fastest time on the team this season and ranks her as the sixth-fastest individual in that event in school history.

Samantha White
Sophomore Samantha White earned All-America citations in the 200-, 500-, and 1650-yard freestyle events at the national championships. She placed second in the nation in both the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. She was also a member of the fifth-place 800-yard freestyle relay, increasing her career All-America citations to five. White's time of 4:56.66 in the 500 free preliminaries broke the school record. White turned in the fastest times on the team this season in the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle events. She was fifth on the team out of 35 competitors in points scored in dual and championship meets.

Donley Zifkin
Zifkin was accorded honorable mention All-America status after finishing 10th in the 200-yard butterfly event at the NCAA championships.

Suzanna Zifkin
Zifkin was voted the team's Most Improved Performer. From the fall semester to the spring semester, she improved her time by more than seven seconds in the 200-yard freestyle, more than nine seconds in the 200-yard butterfly and more than 24 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle. Zifkin qualified for the NCAA national championships in the 1650-yard freestyle where she finished 20th.

Written by Bryce Lewis, Emory sports information assistant.