College Women’s Swimming Final – Guilford Places Eighth at ODAC Championships

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College finished eight at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Women’s Swimming Championships Sunday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The Quakers improved one position from their 2016 finish at the meet and missed out on a share of seventh place by one point.

Washington and Lee University captured its 10th straight ODAC crown with 1,042 points. The Generals won 16-of-18 events in the three-day meet and easily outdistanced second-place Randolph-Macon College, which collected 551 points. Emory & Henry College (441) and Bridgewater College (404) rounded out the top-four teams.

Guilford freshman Carolyn O’Halloran (Summerfield, N.C./Bishop McGuinness) continued her assault on the school’s freestyle records Sunday. The rookie, who swam the second-fastest 50-yard freestyle in Quakers’ history Friday and broke the 200 freestyle standard Saturday, took aim at the 100 freestyle Sunday. She qualified for the B final in Sunday’s morning session with a 14th-place time of 58.69 seconds, which stood third in school history until the evening session. O’Halloran came home fourth in the ‘B’ final for a 12th-place overall finish in 58.03 seconds, now the third-fastest 100 time in school history. She set the standard (57.48) at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in December.

All five Quakers’ swimmers competed in the evening session, including junior Isabel Gutierrez, whose 11th-place finish in the 200 breaststroke was her best individual result of the meet. She qualified for the B final in 2:54.58, good for 11th place, and lowered her time to 2:53.42 in the B final. Kate Nunke (2\:46.79) and Hanna Rouse (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford) (2:50.76) finished 14th and 15th, respectively, in the 200 backstroke.

Guilford’s 400 freestyle relay of Gutierrez, Jennifer Urdaneta, Nunke and O’Halloran took eighth place in 5:00.15.
Coach Ashley Cox’s Quakers finished the dual meet season with a 2-7 overall record (1-6 ODAC). She loses only Urdaneta to graduation and could return five letter winners back for the 2017-18 season.

Final 2017 ODAC Women’s Swimming Championships Team Rankings (thru 18 events)
1. Washington and Lee 1,042
2. Randolph-Macon 551
3. Emory & Henry 451
4. Bridgewater 404
5. Hollins 212
6. Sweet Briar 183
7. Greensboro 128
8. Guilford 127
9. Ferrum 114.