Greensboro, N.C. —- The Catawba College men's and women's swim teams completed action at the South Atlantic Conference swimming championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, as Lillie Martin was named the 2024 SAC Women's Swimming Wealth Enhancement Group Elite 23 Award winner and head coach Matthew Gearing was named SAC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year.
In addition, the Catawba Indians claimed three more conference titles on the final day of action. The men were conference runners-up overall, while the women placed third.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1650 YARD FREESTYLE
- Catawba's Fiona Byrne claimed her second conference title of the week, winning the 1650 yard freestyle with a time of 17:02.11
- Ella Gutenwik placed fourth with a time of 17:33.71, Jolina Franke was eighth with a time of 17:52.13 and Martin was ninth with a time of 18:32.16
- Elias Hysing was the runner-up on the men's side with a time of 15:31.41
- Leon Heiermann finished sixth with a time of 16:06.60, while Enrique Rodriguez, Lewis Mikesell and Kyle Rock finished 10th, 12th and 15th respectively
100 YARD FREESTYLE
- Marit Reckmann was Catawba's lone representative in the women's 100 free championship final, placing fifth with a time of 51.20
- Brinkley Watson and Alix Henras-Marouf placed 10th and 11th, respectively
- Maks Minichowski claimed his third conference crown of the week, taking the men's 100 free final with a time of 43.78
- Isaac Haut won the B final with a time of 45.79
200 YARD BACKSTROKE
- Ash Fortin placed sixth in the 200 Back with a time of 2:05.18
- Berta Vidal Carnero had a 10th-place finish with a time of 2:07.75
- Alejandro Alvarez was the top finisher on the men's side for Catawba, placing fifth with a time of 1:52.75; Rodrigo Yus Fernandez also competed in the championship final, placing eighth
200 YARD BREASTSTROKE
- Gabi Moll was runner-up in the 200 Breast, finishing with a time of 2:18.39, just four-thousandths of a second off the winner
- Hannah Koopmans was seventh with a time of 2:22.43
- Balazs Meszaros claimed Catawba's third and final SAC crown of the night, taking home the conference title in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:01.13, over three seconds faster than his seed time
- Ryan Case placed fifth with a time of 2:05.54
400 YARD FREESTYLE RELAY
- Catawba's women's team of Reckmann, Henras-Marouf, Watson and Koopmans finished third with a time of 3:28.84
- The men's team of Minichowski, Haut, Case and Alvarez also placed third with a time of 3:02.10
UP NEXT
- Catawba returns to action next week at the Emory Last Chance meet, starting on Friday
