NJCAA Swimming & Diving National Championships
The Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving teams competed at the National Championships down in Fort Pierce, Florida, hosted by Indian River State College. The Men's team finished with 19 points, placing 11th & the Women's team finishing with 25 points, placing 9th overall.
Team leaders for the cougars were Thomas Strzelec scoring a 13 points for the men and Grace Gregoire scoring a total of 13 points for the women.
Day 1:
In the 50 Breaststroke, Joshua Beardsley and Ethan Merrill started off the National Championship for the cougars. Beardsley placed 17th with a time of 32.36, a four second time drop and Merrill took 21st with a time of 34.01, dropping .72 for a personal record. Thomas Strzelec took 35th in the 50 yd Freestyle with a time of 26.69, a personal record.
For the Women, our divers Meaghan Bray and Grace Gregoire competed in the 1-Meter diving prelims Wednesday afternoon. Bray would qualify for finals, taking 7th with a 152.55 score and Gregoire placing 10th with a 103.90 score.
Later that evening, Bray would compete in the 1-Meter finals and placed 7th overall nationally with a score of 143.30.
Day 2:
To start off the day, Grace Gregoire took to the 50 yd Backstroke, placing 11th and qualifying for finals with a time of 39.25. On the Men's side, Joshua Beardsley competed in the 100 yd Butterfly, placing 13th and qualifying for finals with a time of 1:00.57.
In the evening, Gregoire would finish 11th overall in the 50 yd Backstroke with a time of 36.68. In the 100 yd Butterfly, Beardsley finished 13th overall with a time of 59.51.
Day 3:
The Men would be the only ones to compete on day 3, Beardsley in the 100 yd IM and Merrill in the 100 yd Breaststroke. In the 100 Im, Beardsley moved up two spots to qualify for finals with a time of 1:02:00. In the 100 yd Breaststroke, Merrill swam a personal best with a time of 1:14.75, taking 21st overall.
In the evening, Beardsley took 15th overall with a time of 1:02.30 in the 100 yd IM.
Day 4:
The final day of competition would see Thomas Strzelec compete in the 1-meter diving prelims, and Joshua Beardsley in the 50 yd Butterfly. Strzelec moved onto finals with a score of 132.75, enough for 6th place. Beardsley would go on to finish his busy week with a time of 27.52 a one second time drop for a personal record and placing 25th.
To cap off the week, Thomas Strzelec in the 1-meter diving, would finish 6th overall nationally with a score of 140.2.
The Cougars conclude their long season, looking to next season as they continue growing and will resume training next fall. Congratulations to the Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving program for their tremendous efforts.
