Lady Koalas Swimming Places 8th at D-3 Pacer Invitational

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Columbia College women's swim team competed at the Div. III Pacer Invitational at William Peace University last weekend and finished in 8th place at the meet while defeating Div. III Guilford College (NC). 

D-3 VA schools Univ. of Lynchburg and Roanoke finished 1st and 2nd at the meet while D-2 Barton College (NC) was third. The Koalas' 8th place finish was just a single point from a tie for 7th with Chowan at 312 points. Columbia defeated Guilford College 311-162 in the standings.

Starting off for the women on Friday morning was senior Andrea Piedra as she placed 18th of 24 in the 500 Yard Freestyle in a time of 6:15 while sophomore Kayle Buss then swam 10th of 20 in the 200 IM with a time of 2:21.6 while junior Giuliana Schiavon touched in 15th in 2:35. Three Koala women then competed in the 50 yard freestyle on Friday led by freshman Sabrina Schiavon placing 24th out of 42 in 28.4 seconds while teammate, senior Kayla Harmon was right behind in 25th in 28.6. Sophomore Annabelle Lee also competed and touched in 32.1 seconds to finish 32nd.

Two more Lady Koala swimmers then stepped to the platform in the 100 Freestyle as Andrea Piedra finished 28th in a time of 1:00 minute flat while junior Giuliana Schiavon came in 32nd in 1:03 out of 46 swimmers.  In the 200 yard Freestyle, Piedra went on to finish 21st out of 32 in 2:13.

In the 200 Breaststroke, CC was led by Sabrina Schiavon placing 14th out of 20 with a time of 2:55 while sophomore Kayle Buss led the ladies in the 200 Backstroke placing 6th out of 15 with a time of 2:18.8, just missing 4th place by .2 seconds. In the 100 Breast, Buss led the Koalas placing 16th out of 30 in a time of 1:14 while S. Schiavon was 21st in 1:19. For the 100 Backstroke, sophomore Annabelle Lee finished 19th of 24 in 1:16.

The Koala women finished 9th out of 15 in the 200 Free Relay in a time of 1:53 as S. Schiavon swam the first leg followed by Harmon, sophomore Isabelle Jensen, and G. Schiavon. Then, in the 200 Medley Relay, the Koalas placed 8th of 15 in 2:05 led by Buss in the first leg, the Schiavon sisters in the middle and Piedra handling the anchor leg.

The 400 Medley Relay team swam well also on Saturday placing 7th with a time of 4:35, just four seconds behind 5th place as Buss led off followed by S. Schiavon, G. Schiavon, and Piedra. In the 100 yard Butterfly, Buss again led the Koalas placing 15th out of 23 in 1:04.6 while G. Schiavon finished 13th in the 400 IM in 5:23.

Finally, in the 400 Free Relay on Saturday, the Lady Koalas swam to a quality 8th place finish in 4:10 with S. Schiavon (1:04) in the lead leg, followed by Buss (1:00), G. Schiavon (1:03), and Jensen (1:01).