Swim Team Sweeps Hendrix Relays, Win 21 of 26 Events
Nov. 2, 2009
By Cody Qualls

Henderson State was clearly the class of the 47^th Hendrix Relays event over the weekend in Conway, Ark. The Lady Red Wave won on the women’s side, earning 466 points, 80 points ahead of its closest competitor, Centenary. The men’s team totaled 460 points, 78 points ahead of Centenary.

HSU won the men’s side of the event competing against eight other schools, while the Lady Red Wave defeated nine other teams.

The Lady Red Wave won 11-of-13 events on the day. Jennifer Rodriguez, a freshman from Katy, Texas, gave the women’s squad the momentum early on with wins in both 1 meter and 3 meter diving.

Natalie Gallant, Allison Kliewer, Catie Morrow and Nicole Horn then won the first swimming event of the day, the 400 yard medley event, with a time of 4:03.88.

Morrow, swimming alongside Nikki Colton (Edmond, Okla.) and Caitlin Cavert (Tulsa, Okla.), won the 300 breaststroke in 3:31.75. Colton then swam with Leary, Horn, and Rebekah Norman to win the 800 yard freestyle event in 8:01.70.

Kliewer, Gallant and Colton continued to thrive for the Lady Red Wave, winning the 300 medley in 3:09.08. Kliewer, Leary, Morrow and Tara Grieger won the 200 medley in 1:52.45, and Gallant, Leary, Norman and Horn earned the win in the 400 freestyle as well.

Grieger, Amanda Kliewer, Hannah Weise and Audra Elrod won the 200 freestyle in 1:41.31.

The Red Wave was just as dominant as the women’s team, winning 10 of 13 events on the day. The highlight of the day for the Red Wave was the performance of the 400freestyle relay team of Grant Beahan, Robert Fisher, Terrance Fogle and Nick James. The Henderson State foursome won the 400 free relay in 3:09.88, and currently has the fastest time in all of Division II swimming in this race. Beahan, Fisher, Fogle and James have the 21^st fastest time in all of the NCAA, ahead of numerous Division I teams including Virginia Tech, South Carolina and Notre Dame.

Beahan, Fisher and Fogle won the 800 freestyle as well, along with teammate Levi Mische. Beahan (Jr., Hare, Zimbabwe) and Fogle (So., Arlington, Texas) won the 200 yard freestyle event as well, this time with Selim Oz and Jair Boerenveen (1:25.39).

Beahan, Boerenveen and freshman Zach Interrante (Cleburne, Texas) won the 300 butterfly in 2:25.82, while Boerenveen also teamed with Mische and Valery Ladrat to win the 300 medley event as well.

Junior Andrew McCornack (Fresno, Calif.) won both the 1 meter and 3 meter diving events.

Head Coach Coak Matthews was pleased about his team's performance. “I thank the Lord Jesus that he enabled us to overcome all of our illnesses during the week and be almost 90% Saturday to be able to swim and dive very well," he said.

The swimming and diving team will next compete in its own meet, the HSU Invitational, on Nov. 13 and 14.