Heath Hutcheson, Campus Carrier sports editor

Berry’s Swim and Dive Team has recently seen great success in their last few meets. The match on Jan. 9 against Piedmont saw the women’s team finishing 1st overall with 154 points over the Lions’ 113 points. Junior Katelyn Groves, freshman Emily Martin, sophomore Ashley Young and junior Molly Heath took first in the Women 200 yard medley relay. The 1000 yard relay saw another win on the women’s side with senior Lexie’s Crosby’s time of 12:26.49 and teammate sophomore Ella Quigley taking third place.

The men’s side saw a final score of 141-130. Junior Ethan Whiting placed first in the 100 yard freestyle, as well as junior Sam Tate, freshman Nicholas Fonzo, freshman Pace Nelson and freshman Crawford Hightower placing first in the 200 yard medley relay. Team Captain, junior Andrew Horn, commented on how he felt the overall match went.

“We knew that they would be good competition for us,” Horn said. “Overall it was a really good, high energy meet and a nice way to start the semester.”

On Jan. 13, the Swim and Dive team had the Senior Day Viking Classic. The women’s team placed first with a score of 154, beating out Life University and Point University. Junior Emily Wolf and Lexie Crosby placed second and third in the 500 yard free. Ashley Young would finish the 50 yard breaststroke with a time of 32.87 and also finished first in the 200 yard breaststroke.

On the men’s team, the Vikings ended with a final score of 151 ahead of Life’s score of 92 and Point’s score of 38. Ryan McKinnon and Jack Button would finish as the top two in the 400 IM. John Tolson would also win the 100 meter dive for the Vikings, and Pace Nelson placed first in the 200 yard free with a time of 50.03.

On Jan. 16, Sam Tate was named the Southern Athletic Association swimmer of the Week for his performance in the Viking Classic. He had broken a school record in the 100 Yard IM with a time of 52.50. He would also place first in the 50 yard fly, 50 yard free, the 100 Yard IM and the 200 yard breast. Coach Astrid Escobar discussed what she has been doing recently to help the teams prepare in practice at this point in the season.

“Right now, we’ve been doing a lot of specificity training, so we have distance specific groups depending on what the athlete swims, if they’re a sprinter, or they do distance events or mid distance events, as well as strokes specificity components,” Escobar said.

Escobar has been proud of the performance of both teams the past two years that she has gotten to coach them, but she is still always looking for new ways that they can improve and grow together. On the men’s side she is hoping to expand upon their cultural foundation.

“I’m very fortunate to have had a great group of men this year as well as last year,” Escobar said. “I think that it’s important for us to continue building on the culture that was already established.”

For the women’s side, she hopes to recruit more members to the team and further build upon their team culture as well.

“Our women’s team is very very low in numbers right now, so our project right now is to recruit more, but the women that we have right now have been phenomenal,” Escobar said. “You can put them in any event and they will stand up. They have just been a really positive force for us.”

Escobar is also thankful that this year in particular has allowed her and the team to grow a very personal relationship with one another and lift one another up.

“I think what has been remarkable specifically this year is how this group does such a great job of including everybody, including me when taking care of the team,” Escobar said.

The team’s next meet will be on Saturday, Jan. 20 in Birmingham, where they hope to continue to finish out this season strong.