RESULTS
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  – The 2014 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championships began on Wednesday with four finals events kicking off the evening session at the IUPUI Natatorium. After the conclusion of day one, Kenyon College is one of four teams in a heated race for first place with no more than 30 points separating those schools. The Ladies find themselves in fourth following a strong individual performance by Mariah Williamson and a solid showing from one of its four relay teams.
In the first women's final of the evening, Williamson captured a second-place finish and 17 points for the Ladies in the 500-yard freestyle event. The sophomore paced herself and went from sixth place after the first 50 yards all the way to second going into the final 100 yards. There, she was able to hold off Courtney McDermott of Emory University for silver behind a time of 4:51.48. Williams College's Sarah Thompson raced to first place in 4:48.19.
Williamson's performance marked the first of two second-place finishes for the Ladies on day one, the other coming in the final event of the evening. The 200-yard medley relay team consisting of Celia Oberholzer, Katie Kaestner, Jourdan Cline, and Jenner McLeod picked up another platform finish and 34 points to Kenyon's total. McLeod swam the fastest leg as the team's anchor (23.05), doing just enough to hold of Emory but fell 0.47 seconds short of top honors. The tandem finished the race in 1:42.41.
Cline also hit the water on an individual basis, taking part in 50-yard freestyle championship final. Though she swam quicker than her preliminary time (23.51), her 23.38 finals time earned her a fourth-place finish, as well as 15 points toward the team total.
A wealth of points was fairly evenly dispersed after the first day, though Emory exited with an early lead behind 127 points. Behind the Eagles, Johns Hopkins University (100), Denison University (99) and Kenyon (97) all closely followed with no more than three points separating positions two through four in the team standings. Amherst College rounded out the top five teams with a distant 49 points.
Thursday will feature five events on the women's side with the preliminary round beginning at 10 a.m. The Ladies will send out 11 different competitors and two relay teams to compete in the one-meter dive competition, 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, and 400-yard medley relay races. The finals heats will commence at 6 p.m. Live results and video will be provided for each session.
