OKLAHOMA CITY - The second day of NAIA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships held good things for the Campbellsville Lady Tigers. All four CU swimmers swam either a best personal season individual time or relay split throughout the races Friday.
The day started early for the Lady Tigers, with the 200-yard freestyle relay beginning at 9 a.m. CT. The team of Jessica Cook, Emily Hunter, Shelby Mattingly, and Bailey Foxworth entered the competition with an A-cut time of 1:45.92 from the MSC Championships in February. Cook (28.35), Hunter (27.48), Mattingly (24.53), and Foxworth (25.56) swam exactly their seed time, placing 20th of 25 teams.
Foxworth returned to the pool two events later for the individual 100-yard butterfly preliminaries. The junior qualified back in December at Union College with an A-cut time of 1:00.94, but even after the three-month gap she still managed to improve her time in the NAIA race. She dropped almost one full second (.85) to come in just above the minute mark, swimming a personal best of 1:00.09. With that time, Foxworth surpassed four competitors that were seeded ahead of her, placing 23rd out of 39.
Coach Casey Smith was excited that Foxworth reached this goal. "She has been working very hard in the pool, and we were thrilled with her results today," she said.
Mattingly was next up, swimming in her second individual event of the championships, the 200-yard freestyle. Â Mattingly, a junior, went in seeded at her 2:03.97 B-cut time, which she swam at the 2015 MSC Championships last month. In her preliminary heat, Mattingly swam a season-best time of 2:03.29, dropping .68 seconds. She placed 31st of 44 in the field.
"Shelby is always diligent in her training and it paid off today as she was able to swim a season best," Smith said.
Then the team of Cook, Hunter, Foxworth, and Mattingly hit the water for the last CU race of the day, 400-yard medley relay preliminaries. Leading off with backstroke, Cook, a sophomore from Tilbury, Ontario, swam a personal best split of 1:08.32. Hunter, a sophomore from Newark, Delaware, swam her breaststroke leg in 1:14.57, also a personal best. Foxworth and Mattingly teamed up for the last two legs of the race with 1:01.81 and 55.45-second splits in the butterfly and freestyle strokes, respectively. Their finish time of 4:20.15 was almost exactly five seconds better than their seed time (4:25.14). The Lady Tigers knocked out three teams with faster seed times to place 20th out of 24 teams.
Â
Smith was pleased with the younger athletes' performances.
"Both Jessica and Emily set personal goals for the medley relay today, and both were able to hit those goals! I am ecstatic with their efforts and results," she said. "They have put their whole into the preparation for this weekend and I am so glad they were able to swim PRs in their legs of the relay.
"I am very proud of each of my girls' performances today, they have worked so well together and take care of each other just as they should," Smith said.
Smith is pleased with all of the results from the championship so far, although none of her swimmers have made it to the finals yet.
"We do have a good chance of making it in the 400-yard freestyle relay tomorrow," she said.
She's also excited for Mattingly's (100-yard freestyle) and Foxworth's (200-yard butterfly and 1650-yard freestyle) individual races tomorrow.
"Shelby is ready for a great swim, so we'll see what happens," she says. As for Foxworth's, "Those have the potential to be fabulous races," Smith said.
The final day of competition begins again on Saturday, March 7 at 9 a.m. CT. The Lady Tigers will take to the water for four races tomorrow, including the 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard butterfly, 400-yard freestyle relay, and the 1650-yard freestyle.
Complete NAIA Schedule | Video | Live Results | Twitter: @CUSwimTeam
CU Remaining Events by Day
Saturday, March 7
100-Yard Freestyle
200-Yard Butterfly
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1650-Yard Freestyle
  Â
