Lenoir-Rhyne Swimming Makes Program History On The Second Day Of The Shark Invitational
December 17, 2011
Freshman Chelsea Kyle and junior Alec Reitzel earn the school's first-ever NCAA Division II "B" cut qualifying times
 Junior Alec Reitzel (pictured) and freshman Chelsea Kyle both posted NCAA Division II |
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Men's and Women's Swimming Teams made school history Saturday on the second day of the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational at the NSU Aquatics Center as a pair of swimmers earned NCAA Division II "B" cut qualifying times.
L-R freshman Chelsea Kyle (Knoxville, Tenn.) swam a 57.90 in a 100-yard butterfly victory while junior Alec Reitzel (Hickory, N.C.) finished the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.79 to post "B" cut qualifying times in the preliminaries. Both were also school records.
The two swimmers may possibly qualify for the 2012 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving National Championships on March 14-17 in Mansfield, Texas.
In addition, Kyle swam a 57.91 in the finals Saturday night to win the 100-yard butterfly.
Freshmen Cody Shaw (Winterville, N.C.) and Jay Stancliff (Advance, N.C.) also posted new Lenoir-Rhyne marks in the 400-yard individual medley (4:17.50) and 100-yard butterfly (53.41) events, respectively, during the final round of the day.
Both L-R squads set school records in the 200-yard freestyle relay in the finals Saturday evening as well. The women's squad swam a 1:43.05 while the men's team finished with a 1:27.62.
The Bears wrapped up the night by recording a school-record 3:34.67 in the men's 400-yard medley relay in the final event. The relay team consisted of Stancliff, freshmen Deaton Wright (Southern Pines, N.C.), Kyle Hites (Lenoir, N.C.) and Chris Tilque (Charlotte, N.C.).
The third day of swimming events in the invitational will take place on Sunday before wrapping up Monday.
