Sherman, Texas- The Centenary men's and women's swimming teams each finished fourth on Saturday afternoon in the Austin College Invitational inside Hannah Natatorium to complete a busy week in a return to action in the New Year for the Maroon and White.
The Ladies earned 234 points while the Gents tallied 212. The University of Texas Permian Basin, a division II school, finished first on both the men's (884) and women's (434) side while McMurry University finished second. The host 'Roos finished third and the University of St. Thomas was fifth.
Junior Madeline Vacula (Belton, Texas) had Centenary's best individual finish of the meet as she finished second in the 1650 free as she swam a time of 19:32.01 to finish behind UTPB's Chloe Siegrist. Freshman Reece Esser (Huntsville, Texas) finished third in the both 200 free (2:12.88) and the 100 free (59.61), and Vacula just missed a top-five finish in the 100 back as she was sixth with a time of 1:11.01. Senior Anacelia Galeano-Balam (Baton Rouge, La.) finished third in the 200 fly (2:40.56) and was fifth in the 100 fly (1:10.12).
The Gents earned 14 individual top-10 finishes as sixth-place finishes by freshman Ubaldo Ayala (Hallsville, Texas), senior Antonio Barbee (Plaquemine, La.), and freshman Nick Gordon (Aurora, Colo.) were the highest finish of the meet on the men's side. The Ladies earned 10 top-10 finishes.
Centenary returned to action on Wednesday at home for the first time this calendar year as the Maroon and White earned a victory over Millsaps College by a combined team score of 231-207 in which the Ladies and Gents recorded an impressive 42 top 10's.
Centenary returns home on Saturday, Jan. 20 against Austin College for its annual Senior Day Meet set for 1 p.m. The Maroon and White then will be off for three weeks in preparation for the annual Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships set for Feb. 14-17 in Garland, Texas.
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wswim/2023-24/schedule
See the Gents' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mswim/2023-24/schedule
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