Swimming Teams To Face McMurry University In Pair of Meets On Road

Abilene, Texas - The Centenary swimming teams are back on the road this weekend as the Maroon and White will face the McMurry University War Hawks in a pair of dual meets on Friday and Saturday inside Phillips Family Center.

Centenary and McMurry will square off on Friday at 6 p.m. and again on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Live video for both meets is available at the following link: https://mcmurrysports.com/sports/2019/8/28/video

The Ladies and Gents opened their seasons last weekend and recorded an impressive 33 top-five individual finishes in a pair of road meets – on Friday in Clarksville, Ark. against host University of Ozarks and Rhodes College and then on Saturday in Conway, Ark. against host Hendrix College and Rhodes.

The Ladies tallied 104 points in a narrow loss to Ozarks (114-104) on Friday and fell 179-38 to Rhodes. The Gents fell 176-32 to Rhodes but defeated Ozarks, 80-62. On Saturday, the Ladies fell 228-42 to Rhodes and 154-92 to Hendrix while the Gents fell 224-36 to Rhodes and 200-47 to Hendrix.

The highlight of the weekend came on Tuesday of this week as Centenary swept the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Swimmer of the Week honors as freshman Reece Esser (Huntsville, Texas) and freshman Nick Gordon (Aurora, Colo.) were named SCAC Women's Swimmer and Men's Swimmer of the Week respectively.

The rookie Esser made an immediate impact in her first collegiate meets this past weekend, recording one individual victory, a pair of runner-up finishes, and two more top-five finishes. She picked up her two runner-up finishes on Friday as she swam a time of 57.89 to place second in the 100 free and finished second in the 100 butterfly (1:02.97). On Saturday at Hendrix, she won the 50 fly in a time of 27.83 and recorded two fourth-place finishes in the 50 back (29.85) and 100 fly (1:03.88). Esser was also a member of the Ladies' team that finished third in the 200-medley relay (2:03.50) on Friday.

Gordon got off to an impressive start in his Gents' career as he recorded five top-three individual finishes. The rookie finished third in both the 100 fly (54.57) and 50 free (22.50) on Friday. He was also part of the Gents' team that placed third in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:50.34. On Saturday at Hendrix against the host Warriors and Rhodes again, Gordon shined as he finished third in the 100 free (50.97), 50 fly (24.23), and 200 IM (2:16.53).

Senior Antonio Barbee (Plaquemine, La.) finished third in the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 11:39.48 on Friday and teamed with freshman Ubaldo Ayala (Hallsville, Texas), Gordon, and sophomore Jameson Feeney (Shreveport, La.) to place third in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:50.34.

Barbee also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly as he swam a time of 58.96. Feeney finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.73). Senior Aiden Peterkin (Zachary, La.) finished third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:13.40), fourth in the 200 IM (2:25.73), and fifth in both the 100-yard freestyle (57.58) and 200 free (2:10.05). Ayala earned a runner-up finish in the 200-yard IM (2:16.62) and finished fourth in the 500 free (5:35.87). Gordon finished third in both the 100 fly (54.57) and 50 free (22.50).

On the women's side, junior Madeline Vacula (Belton, Texas) finished as runner-up in the 1000 free (11:26.73) and third in the 500 free (5:36.30). Vacula teamed with senior Anacelia Galeano-Balam (Baton Rouge, La.), freshman Hannah Waddell (Shreveport, La.), and Esser to finish third in the 200 medley relay (2:03.50). Allie Matherne (Cut Off, La.) and freshman Kennadi St. Clair (Duncanville, Texas) St. Clair placed sixth (1:20.23) and seventh (1:26.84) respectively in the 100 breast.

Freshman Cicely Jackson (Lafayette, La.) earned a top-five finish in the 100-yard backstroke (6:07.49), was seventh (1:15.68) in the 100 fly and also earned a sixth-place finish in the 200 free as she swam a time of 2:17.93. Waddell finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:12.64) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:19.10). Matherne finished sixth in the 100 free (1:02.98) and was a member of the Ladies' 200-yard freestyle relay that finished third in a time of 2:00.90. Freshman Stacy Brown (Baytown, Texas), freshman Sydney Welch (Moss Bluff, La.), and St. Clair joined Matherne in the 200.

Welch finished sixth in both the 100 backstroke (1:26.30) and 50 free (30.72) and St. Clair placed fifth in the 50 free (30.30). Brown finished eighth in the 200 free (2:39.28). Sophomore Adriana de la Fuente (Baton Rouge, La.) finished seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:28.68).

On Saturday, Barbee finished fifth in the 100 fly after swimming a time of 58.96, tied for fifth in the 50 free (25.38), and was a member of the Gents' 200-yard medley relay team that placed fifth in a time of 1:49.45. He also placed sixth in the 200 free with a time of 1:59.53. Peterkin finished seventh in both the 50 back (32.34) and 50 free (26.11) and was 12^th in the 50 fly (29.48). Feeney finished eighth in the 50 back (34.06), ninth in the 50 free (26.83), 10^th in the 50 breast (33.18), and teamed with Barbee, Gordon, and Ayala in the 200 medley relay. The rookie Ayala also earned three top-10 finishes highlighted by placing fifth in the 100 back (1:04.25) and finishing 10^th in the 50 fly with a time of 27.50 and 10^th in the 100 breast (1:12.03).

Several Ladies had strong meets, as Vacula picked up a trio of top five-finishes as she finished fourth in the 500 free (5:34.21), fifth in the 100 back (1:07.84), and fifth in the 200 free (2:10.64). Waddell was impressive for the second day in a row as she placed fourth in the 100 breast (1:11.62), fourth in the 50 breast (33.45), and fifth in the 200 IM (2:20.32).

Matherne swam a time of 1:03.77 to finish sixth in the 100 free, seventh in the 50 breast (36.52), and finished eighth in the 100 breast (1:20.26). St. Clair finished eighth in the 50 breast (39.08), ninth in the 100 free (1:07.85), and 10^th in the 100 breast (1:29.19). Jackson was sixth in the 200 free (2:16.86), seventh in the 100 free (1:05.40), and ninth in the 100 fly (1:15.11).

Brown finished eighth in the 50 free (31.59), ninth in the 200 free (2:33.05), and 10^th in the 50 fly (36.04). Welch finished eighth in the 50 back (38.40) and finished 10^th in the 100 back (1:35.32). de la Fuente finished ninth in the 50 back (40.69) and 100 back (1:32.16) Galeano-Balam finished sixth in the 50 free (30.71), seventh in the 50 fly (30.80), and eighth in the 100 fly (1:11.28).

Upcoming Schedule:

Centenary will face Millsaps College in a dual meet in Jackson, Miss. on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.

The Maroon and White will hold their annual Intrasquad/Alumni Meet on Homecoming weekend, set for Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. at 1 p.m.).

See the Ladies and Gents' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wswim/2023-24/schedule

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