COLUMBUS, Ga. – Thursday was Day 1 of The Sun Conference Championships for the Loyola Wolf Pack men's and women's swim programs, as the field competed in three individual events and two relays. The 12th-ranked Loyola women are in fourth place out of seven times, while the 15th-ranked men are sixth out of seven with two days left at the championships.
The Sun Conference Championships are stacked with six teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25 on both sides as well.
The highlight of the day came on the men's side, as Tate Bladon claimed third place in the 50-yard freestyle. His time of 20.55 beat his previous collegiate-best time of 20.87, also rebreaking his Loyola school record.
On the women's side, Emily Cooper recorded a new personal record in the 200-yard IM, and Mya Baker, Abbigail Chemacki and Eve Thomas all had season-best times at the championship. Cooper swam a 2:14.40 in her race to take 14th place, topping her previous best set last year by less than a second (2:14.99). Baker placed 13th in the 500-yard freestyle and Chemacki took 16th, with times of 5:17.01 and 5:23.38, respectively, to record their best times of the season. Thomas placed 10th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.93 for a new season-best, too, as Jenna Copes led the Wolf Pack in that race with a sixth-place finish.
Day 2 will bring five more individual races (400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke), and two more relay events (200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley).
Thursday's Results
Women:
200Y Medley Relay: 4, Loyola A (Thomas, Sierveld, Copes, Streeter), 1:50.00; 12, Loyola B (Solbach, Berry, Cooper, Carr), 1:57.15.
500Y Freestyle: 13, Mya Baker, 5:17.01; 16, Abbigail Chemacki, 5:23.38.
200Y IM: 14, Emily Cooper, 2:14.40.
50Y Free: 6, Jenna Copes, 24.73; 10, Eve Thomas, 24.93; 14, Zada Streeter, 25.96.
800Y Freestyle Relay: 4, Loyola A (Copes, Baker, Cooper, Streeter), 8:09.84; 12, Loyola B (Chemacki, Sierveld, Berry, Gearhart), 8:30.64.
Men:
200Y Medley Relay: 6, Loyola A (Presses, Quiddington, Potter, Bladon), 1:36.59; Loyola B (Jones, Courville, Smith, Shaffer), 1:40.96.
200Y IM: 14, Harvey Quiddington, 1:56.96.
50Y Free: 3, Tate Bladon, 20.55; 15, Eric Potter 21.77.
800Y Freestyle Relay: 5, Loyola A (Bladon, Potter, Quiddington, Levine), 7:08.53; 13, Loyola B (A. Hinton, Courville, Presses, C. Hinton), 7:28.04.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
