Southwestern Swim Teams Achieve Success at National Championships, March 15

Southwestern Swimming competed at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship Meet last week at Erie Community College in Buffalo, NY.  The team found success in and out of the pool, receiving accolades from coaches, officials, parents, and spectators about their sportsmanship, class, and great swimming.  The combined team effort resulted in achieving many individual lifetime best times, setting 22 new school records and bringing home 74 medals, including 10 relay and 34 individual top 8 finishes.  The women’s team finished in 4th place.  The men’s team finished 2nd as the Runner-up National Champions! The success of the team was a true team effort.  All 27 athletes that competed for Southwestern did their part to add to the respective team point totals.  Although the overall team totals are not recognized at the national championships, we have worked hard all season on teamwork and a unified effort and it is work mentioning that all 27 athletes scored points for the team and Southwestern finished 2nd overall in the combined team point totals. Southwestern had 5 women place in the top 8 in at least one individual event.  The women’s team was led by Sophomores Annessa Clear and Sienna Smith with 3rd place finishes in individual events.  Clear finished 3rd in the 50 free with a new school record of 24.07.  Smith finished 3rd in 50 fly with a new school record of 26.53 and 4th in the 200 fly with a new school record of 2:15.26.  Both Clear and Smith will be named College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) First Team All-Americans for their individual swims as well as their contributions to relays. Freshmen Mya Falk and Madeline Cramer added to the women’s team top 4 finishes and will be named CSCAA All-Americans for their individual event.  Falk took 4th place in the 1000 and 1650 free.  Cramer took 4th in the 50 breast stroke.  Freshmen, Angelica Lemus and Khalani Hoyer and sophomore, Casey Jentges will also be named CSCAA First Team All-Americans for their contributions to relays. The women’s team set new school records in all 5 relays and placed in top 4 in 4 of the 5 relays. Southwestern had 14 men who placed in the top 8 in at least one individual event.  The men’s team was led by 4 individual top 4 finishers.  Top 4 finishes included: Sophomore, Christian Broschat – 4th in 50 breaststroke; Sophomore, Thomas Crawford – 3rd in 50 butterfly; Sophomore, Chad Seevers – 4th in 1650 freestyle; and Freshman, Cas Sheridan – 3rd in 1000 freestyle and 3rd in 1650 freestyle. The team also had 4 relays place in the top three with our best finish of the meet coming in the Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay with a time of 1:36.17.  The sophomore relay included: Michael “Storm” Fields, Christian Broschat, Carson Rose, and Thomas Crawford. In its third year, we continue to see improvement as the program continues to grow.  The Men’s Team accumulated 557 points to finish as the Runner Up National Champions in 2nd place and the Women’s Team improved this year moving up to 4th place with 480.5 points. 2017 NJCAA National Swimming & Diving Champs 01-Mar-17 to 04-Mar-17 School Records Set 16 New Individual Records: Women 50 Free – 24.07 Y  Annessa Clear; Women 100 Free – 54.69 Y  Annessa Clear; Women 50 Back – 29.45 Y Annessa Clear; Women 100 Back – 1:03.06 Y Annessa Clear; Women 200 Back – 2:15.42 Y Angelica Lemus; Women 50 Breast – 32.22 Y Madeline Cramer; Women 50 Fly – 26.53 Y Sienna Smith; Women 200 IM – 2:24.66 Y Sienna Smith; Men 200 Breast – 2:09.91 Y Shane Williams; Men 50 Fly – 23.33 Y Thomas Crawford; Men 100 Fly  – 2.84 Y Thomas Crawford; Men 200 Fly – 2:06.93 Y Logan Wintermute; Men 200 IM – 1:58.84 Y Shane Williams; Men 400 IM – 4:16.43 Y Shane Williams.  Six New Relay Records: Women 200 Free Relay – 1:42.46 Y Presley LeBlanc (FR) Asha Huffman (FR) Khalani Hoyer (FR) Annessa Clear (SO); Women 200 Medley Relay – 1:53.59 Y Angelica Lemus (FR) Madeline Cramer (FR) Sienna Smith (SO) Annessa Clear (SO); Women 400 Free Relay – 3:42.83 Y Sienna Smith (SO) Mya Falk (FR) Angelica Lemus (FR) Annessa Clear (SO); Women 400 Medley Relay – 4:10.58 Y Angelica Lemus (FR) Madeline Cramer (FR) Mya Falk (FR) Annessa Clear (SO). Women 800 Free Relay – 8:24.87 Y Casey Jentges (SO) Khalani Hoyer (FR) Angelica Lemus (FR) Mya Falk (FR). Men 400 Medley Relay – 3:33.72 Y Darrin Breshears (FR) Christian Broschat (SO) Carson Rose (SO) Caleb Dean (FR).