The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

NCAA Swimming moved into its conference championships at the Division I level last weekend and several Bahamian student athletes were active with top 10 finishes and several school records.

At the SEC Championships in Auburn, Alabama, Albury Higgs and her South Carolina Gamecocks finished the meet 9th with 427 points.

The senior was singled out by head coach McGee Moody for her effort across the five-day meet, most notably her 7th place finish in the 200 breaststroke. "I was really proud of Albury Higgs' 200 breaststroke as it was her final one here at the SECs," Moody said.

"This is one of the toughest meets to work your way through, it's the longest college meet in the country. When you get to day five of the meet, it's a challenge to keep your team motivated and up and full of energy and our team did that.

"If you're able to break records on the final night of the SEC Championship your training has paid off.

"All in all great meet and we're excited to move on to the NCAA Championship."

In other individual events, Higgs finished 5th overall in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 59.82 seconds and 19th overall in the 200 Individual Medley in 1:58.18.

She was also a member of two record-setting relay teams that set new Gamecocks records.

Her relay team broke the school record in both the 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay. The 200 medley team finished in 1:37.44.

Higgs swam a 27.34 split. She swam a 59.50 split in the 400 medley as her team finished first in 3:33.75.

At the ACC Championships, Lilly Higgs and the North Carolina Tar Heels finished fourth.

Individually, Higgs recorded a pair of top 10 finishes in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

In the 100, Higgs finished 8th overall in a time of 1:00.15 in the final. She recorded a time of 59.92 in the prelims. In the 200, she finished 10th overall in a time of 2:10.66.

Luke-Kennedy Thompson had a standout performance in his first appearance for the Howard Bison at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championships.

The freshman opened the meet as a member of the 800 free relay team. They set a new school record in 6:53.82, more than four seconds ahead of the previous record. Thompson swam 1:41.55.

He moved on to the 200 Individual Medley and finished 14th overall in 1:52.49. He set a new Bison record in the process.

Thompson originally surpassed the nearly 11-year-old mark in the prelims with his time of 1:54.24 and returned to do so again in the final.

In the 400 IM he finished 10th overall and set another new Bison record in 4:02.83.

He originally set the new record of 4:06.94 in the prelims, followed by his time in the final.

It marked the third time this season that he lowered the events record time. Thompson also swam the 200 breast and finished 14th in 2:05.02.