| Emory won the women's
swimming national championship for the fifth time in eight
seasons. Emory athletics photo |
The Emory women's swimming and diving team claimed its third
consecutive NCAA title and fifth overall in the program's history,
with another dominating performance during the 2012 NCAA Division
III Swimming and Diving Championships.
Emory has won the NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving
Championship in 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012. This year's title
marks the 13th in the history of the Emory Athletics program. Along
with the five from the swimming and diving team, women's tennis has
won five, men's tennis two and volleyball one.
The Eagles accumulated 639 points during the four days of the
meet, the most by an Emory squad at the NCAA Championships. The
Eagles bested second-place Williams (453 points) and third-place
Denison (420 points).
The highlight of the final day was Sadie Nennig's individual victory in the 200-yard backstroke, as the sophomore became the third consecutive Eagle to win the event after senior Anne Culpepper had won it in each of the previous two seasons. Nennig won the event with a time of 1:58.86 to claim her first career individual national championship.
| Year | Champion |
| 2012 | Emory |
| 2011 | Emory |
| 2010 | Emory |
| 2009 | Kenyon |
| 2008 | Kenyon |
| 2007 | Kenyon |
| 2006 | Emory |
| 2005 | Emory |
| 2004 | Kenyon |
| 2003 | Kenyon |
| 2002 | Kenyon |
| 2001 | Denison |
| 2000 | Kenyon |
| 1999 | Kenyon |
| 1998 | Kenyon |
| 1997 | Kenyon |
| 1996 | Kenyon |
| 1995 | Kenyon |
| 1994 | Kenyon |
| 1993 | Kenyon |
| 1992 | Kenyon |
| 1991 | Kenyon |
| 1990 | Kenyon |
| 1989 | Kenyon |
| 1988 | Kenyon |
| 1987 | Kenyon |
| 1986 | Kenyon |
| 1985 | Kenyon |
| 1984 | Kenyon |
| 1983 | Williams |
| 1982 | Williams |
The title was the first in an individual event during the meet
by an Eagle and 25th individual national championship in the
program's history. It was Nennig's first career individual title,
and the fourth total national title in her career.
Emory also defended its title in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as
sophomore Renee Rosenkranz, junior Anna Dobben, freshman Nancy
Larson and senior Claire Pavlak won the event with a school-record
time of 3:22.02, besting their time from last year's championship
meet. The Eagles have now won the event at Nationals in each of the
last three seasons.
It was the 35th national championship overall for Emory, 11 of
which have come in relay events. Pavlak capped off her Emory career
with nine championships, four more than any other swimmer in the
program's history.
Also on the final day, Culpepper finished fourth in the 200-yard
backstroke with a time of 2:00.11, and junior Taryn Lushinsky
finished fifth with a mark of 2:00.38, as each earned all-America
certificates. Senior Whitley Taylor finished 10th (2:01.83), and
junior Jacqueline Schneider claimed 11th place (2:02.25) to earn
honorable mentions.
Two Eagles claimed All-America honors in the women's 1,650-yard
freestyle, as freshman McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg finished fifth
with a time of 17:04.36, and sophomore Courtney McDermott claimed
seventh place with a time of 17:09.20.
Emory was also well represented on the podium for the 100-yard
freestyle, as Dobben finished third (50.52 seconds), Rosenkranz
fourth (50.67 seconds) and Pavlak fifth (50.74). Larson earned an
all-America honorable mention, finishing 11th with a time of 51.23
seconds.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, junior Mia Michalak finished eighth
with a time of 2:19.87 (including a mark of 2:19.53 in the
preliminaries) to win an All-America certificate, her second of the
meet. Both freshman Megan Beach (10th, 2:19.71 in the prelims) and
sophomore Brooke Woodward (11th, 2:20.42) finished with honorable
mentions.
All together, Emory amassed 28 All-America honors (23 in
individual events and five in relays) in addition to 17 honorable
mention finishes. Included in that group is Nennig's championship
in the 200-yard backstroke, and titles in the 200-yard medley,
200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relays.