Matt Smith, Campus Carrier Assistant Sports Editor
The Vikings and Lady Vikings swimming and diving teams travelled to Birmingham, Ala. last weekend to finish their 2013-2014 season at the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Conference Championship.
The Vikings competed against six other DIII schools during the meet.
Swimmers broke multiple conference records, and several swimmers achieved personal bests in scores and times.
The Vikings placed first in several events and placed on the podium for several others. Senior Graydon McCrite placed first in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. His time of 20.63 seconds on the 50 freestyle was a new SAA conference record and qualified him for the DIII national meet, which will take place in March.
Junior Conor Monaghan won two events for the Vikings, placing first in the 100 and 200 butterfly. He also placed second in the 200 individual medley.
Monaghan’s swims secured him a DIII national cut.
McCrite and Monaghan also competed in the 200 freestyle relay with junior Johnathon Purdy and sophomore Cameron Grant. They finished in first place with a time of 1:22.74, a DIII national cut and SAA conference record.
In the Lady Vikings’ events, Senior Rachel Sandoval finished first place in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, setting new SAA record times in both events with times of 24.13 and 52.44, respectively. Sophomore Janelle Spanjers set a new Berry record in the 100 breast stroke with a time of 1:08.98. Spanjers placed sixth in the 200 breast stroke and fourth in the 500 freestyle. In the woman’s 200 freestyle relay, Sandoval and Spanjers set a new school record with sophomore Hannah Johnson and sophomore Stephanie Stadnick.
“Overall, it was the best [meet] we have ever had.” McCrite said. “We had a lot of podiums, and everyone dropped time overall.”
Sandoval said that she is proud of the team for their strong work ethic and perseverance.
“My favorite part about swimming this season was the positive attitudes of everyone on the team,” Sandoval said. “We all endured some really tough workouts, but all of that hard work paid off at conference. The men’s 400 relay stood out because of the great comeback that our team was able to make after falling behind early on to Birmingham Southern. They ended up tying, which is something that I had never witnessed in a relay before.”
Coach Paul Flinchbaugh said the team’s performance was exceptional across the board during the meet.
“They were very disciplined, and we saw a 100 percent time drop with our swimmers across all events,” Flinchbaugh said. “We have five swimmers who made the national qualifying cuts for the division national championship in March.”
Overall, the men finished in fourth and the women finished in sixth at the SAA Championship.