Drury Swim Teams Snag First-Day Leads At NCAA-II Championships
CANTON, Ohio - The defending national champion Drury men's and women's swimming squads each grabbed the lead in the team competition after the first day of action at the NCAA-II Championships at the C.t. Branin Natatorium.
The Drury men, who've won the past five national championships, put up 79 points to hold a six-point lead over runner-up Incarnate Word (73), with Ouachita Baptist third with 68 points in a very tight race after the first of four days of competition. The Panthers got victories from sophomore Jun Han Kim in the 200 Individual Medley and from freshman Chris Jacobsen in the 1000 Freestyle to spark them to the lead.
The DU women, defending national champs and winners of two of the past three national titles, used their depth to ring up 156 points for a 13-point lead over second-place Wayne State (143). Clarion is a distant third with 72 points.
"The women did a great job of going out and taking care of business today," Drury coach Brian Reynolds said. "Our men are going to be in a fight til the end in what should be a very competitive four days."
Leading the DU women to the first-day lead was a second-place finish from sophomore Erin Dolan and a sixth from freshman Deanna Sorenson in the 1000 Free,, a third-place finish from junior Yan Qing Li and a seventh from senior Abbey Musch in the 200 IM, a sharing of sixth by senior Jing Hua and freshman Tiffany Van Dongen and an eighth from junior Li Tao in the 50 Free, as well as a sixth from senior Lauren Bader in the 3-meter diving.
Competition continues on Thursday with prelim races at 10:30 a.m. (EST) and the finals at 6 p.m. (EST).