Swimmers set new personal bests at KCAC Championship

HOBART, Ind. – Sterling College swim competed in the KCAC Championship Wednesday-Thursday, Feb. 4-7. Including two new school records set by freshman Bree Pickerell, and of the 67 swims at conference, 48 were either season bests times or personal best times. The men and women combined for 29 top ten times in school history.

"I am so proud of everything these swimmers accomplished this year. Day three of the conference meet the Warriors were on fire and went ten-for-ten on lifetime best swims," head coach Dale Heckman said. "They battled through adversity earlier this season with some issues with the pool and were able to peak at the right time."

For the women, the team of Campbell Elliott, Bree Pickerell, Allison Reed and Lydia Nelson started the meet setting a new team best in the 800Y freestyle relay on Wednesday. The team dropped 20 seconds to finish eighth with a time of 8:40.87.

Elliott, Nelson, Reed and Abby Cagle competed in the 200Y freestyle relay where they finished ninth with a time of 1:47.10. Pickerell, Nelson, Cagle and Elliott also competed in the 400Y medley relay swimming a time of 3:53.91 to place ninth.

In the 200Y medley relay, Pickerell, Nelson, Cagle and Elliott finished ninth with a time of 1:59.66.

In the 50Y freestyle, Hilde Heskett set a new personal best with a time of 27.29 to finish 29th. Reed, Elliott and Cagle also competed in the 50Y freestyle finishing with times of 27.30, 27.60 and 27.66 to place 30th, 34th and 35th, respectively.

Pickerell had strong independent performances setting a school record in the 200Y backstroke with a time of 2:18.69 to finish eighth. She also broke her own school record in the 1650Y freestyle finishing fifth with an NAIA B standard time of 18:43.26, she will find out if the time qualifies her for nationals on February 20. Pickerell also finished 14th in the 500Y freestyle with a time of 5:37.15.

Nelson swam in the 200Y individual medley where she swam a personal best time of 2:26.33 to place 18th. She also swam a personal best time in the 100Y breaststroke with a time of 1:12.37 to place 12th. In the 200Y breaststroke, Nelson finished 11th with a time of 2:39.98.

Cagle swam in the 100Y butterfly finishing 15th with a time of 1:05.42. Elliott also competed in the 100Y butterfly where she swam a personal best time of 1:11.34 to place 19th. Elliott, Cagle and Heskett also competed in the 100Y freestyle swimming a time of 58.01, 1:00.16 and 1:01.86 to place 22nd, 30th and 36th, respectively.

Reed and Heskett competed in the 100Y backstroke where they placed 21st and 25th with times of 1:09.95 and 1:14.28, respectively. Reed also swam in the 200Y backstroke placing 22nd with a time of 2:32.07.

For the men, Ian Esquivel, Gavin Turner, Juwayne "JJ" Silmon and Parker rea teamed up to finish eighth in the 200Y freestyle relay with a time of 1:39.81. The group also competed in the 400Y medley relay swimming a time of 3:46.66 to place eighth. They also finished eighth in the 200Y medley relay swimming a time of 1:54.42.

In the 50Y freestyle, Rea finished 25th with a personal best time of 23.76 while Esquivel also swam a personal best time of 25.41 to finish 31st. Right behind him was Turner who finished 32nd with a time of 26.54.

Rea competed in the 200Y freestyle, finishing 24th with a time of 2:01.42. In the 100Y freestyle, Rea, Esquivel and Turner swam times of 52.16, 57.32 and 1:00.10 to place 28th, 34th and 35th, respectively.

Turner swam in the 100Y backstroke where he swam a personal best time of 1:07.36 to place 17th.

Silmon competed in the 200Y individual medley where he finished 31st with a time of 2:24.46. Silmon and Esquivel also competed in the 100Y butterfly, both finishing with personal best times of 1:00.61 and 1:03.71 to place 24th and 26th, respectively.

In the 200Y backstroke, Silmon swam a time of 2:36.86 to finish 15th.

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