Lynchburg, Va. (TheCCSA.com) – The Liberty Lady Flames Women's Swim and Dive team is the leader with 1366.5 points after the third day of the 2019 CCSA Swimming and Diving Championship at the Liberty Natatorium on the campus of Liberty University.
Florida Gulf Coast is in second with 1190 points, Incarnate Word is third with 773 points, and Georgia Southern sits fourth with 698 points. Campbell checks in at fifth with 598.5 points, UNC Asheville is in sixth-place with 571 points and North Florida is in seventh at 475 points. Gardner-Webb comes in at eighth place with 464 points, while Howard finished the day in ninth-place with 335 points.
In the first event of the night, Florida Gulf Coast's Gracie Redding upset teammate Tina Elmgreen and took the victory in the 100-yard butterfly, with a NCAA B-cut time of 53.12. Alicia Finnigan of Liberty nearly pulled out the win herself but finished second for the second straight year at 53.13. The two-time former champ in the event Tina Elmgreen placed third, with her time of 54.06. Liberty then secured the top two spots in the 400-yard individual medley. Gianni Pitto came in at 4:15.06, and Mikayla Herich finished at 4:15.23. Both finishes were enough for NCAA B-cut final times. Last year's champion and conference record holder Liz Zeiger rounded out the top three with her time of 4:21.19.
Liberty won its second straight event when Emily Zimcosky swam a 1:48.18 in the 200-yard freestyle. She was followed by Florida Gulf Coast's Linda Shaw and teammate Shelby Black, who finished in times of 1:48.81 and 1:49.23, respectively. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Petra Halmai won the Eagle's second event of the night and secured a NCAA B-cut final in 1:00.62. Gianni Pitto also snagged her second podium finish for the day and a B-cut time of 1:01.50. Morgan Rulevich claimed third for UNC Asheville in 1:02.83.
Liberty's Payton Keiner improved on her second-place finish from last year in the 100-yard backstroke, with a 53.95 first-place finish. Last year's third-place finisher Doris Eichhorn grabbed second with a 53.96. Georgia Southern saw their first swimmer reach the podium, with a 54.78 swim by Anna Moers. Liberty's 400-yard medley relay team won the last swimming event of the day in a time of 3:37.59. The Lady Flame team was comprised of Payton Keiner, Gianni Pitto, Alicia Finnigan and Emily Zimcosky.
Day three results can be found here. The CCSA Championship will conclude on February 23 at 10:00 a.m., with the 200-yard backstroke preliminaries. The event finals for the final day of competition will begin at 6:00 p.m.