GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Centre women's swimming & diving team took the pool for one final time this season on Saturday, competing in the final day of the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. The Colonels rounded out the season finale with a historic mark, earning their third All-American honor in the last three seasons.
 
The Gold & White's All-American Honorable Mention award came way by the women's 400 free relay, the team of Elise Burch, Caroline Lee, Greer Manger and Callie West placing themselves on the list of honorees. After earning their way into the finals session by finishing 15th overall in prelims, the team held onto their rankings with a 15th-place spot in their final swim of the season. They finished on a final time of 3:28.76, essentially mirroring their morning time in the strong performance. Burch led the relay off a quick :24.72 split, Lee, Manger and West all splitting under :52 seconds in the event. Manger split a :51.9, Lee touching the wall on a :51.73 time. West's :51.89 leg as the anchor helped solidified her spot as earning All-American Honorable Mention honors in back-to-back seasons.

"I'm really happy with getting a relay on the scoreboard, especially since we got three first-time national qualifiers to the meet this year" stated head coach Dean Brownley after the meet's conclusion. "We learned a lot from this weekend, and we're excited for the opportunity to come back to this meet potentially next year.
 
West also competed as an individual earlier in the day, finishing tied-35th overall in the women's 100 free. The sophomore finished on a time of :52.14 out of the 59 student-athletes in the field.

"We swam well in a meet that was incredibly fast this weekend." Brownley recounted, "The pressure piled up as the meet went on, so to go out on the final day and earn Honorable Mention All-America was tremendous. We're looking forward to getting the ball rolling next year!"
 
The Colonels will wait to see if any postseason honors coming their way to officially conclude their season, capping a memorable year that included a tight runner-up finish at the 2023 Southern Athletic Association (SAA) championships and their second-straight invite to the NCAA Division III Championships.

DAY THREE (Friday)
Two days of competition down at the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, the Centre women's swimming & diving team geared up on Friday try and finish the final 5two days of the big dance strong. The Colonels only had one event on their schedule that took place in the morning, swimming in the women's 800 free relay

The event slotted in timed finals and the Gold & White swimming in the morning session of Friday's contest, their exact placement won't be determined until this evening's finals session after the final heat competes. The squad combined for a final time of 7:42.88, placing fifth overall in their heat to jump up another spot in the rankings, finishing ahead of the entry relay above them by almost four seconds. The team consisted of Elise Burch, Caroline Lee, Greer Manger and Callie West.

Burch's first 100 yards of her leadoff leg led to a great 200 split, going out in a :53.91 for a final 1:55.39 time to kick off the relay. The freshman had a similar strong start, touching the wall on a 1:56.75 split for her leg of the event. Manger ran as Centre's third leg in the race, one of two student-athletes on the relay to come home in the final 50 yards under 30 seconds (:29.74 split, 1:56.36 overall). West contained the fastest split of the morning for the Gold & White as the anchor leg, performing a 1:54.38 swim to round out the relay.

Centre will get an extended period of rest before their final day of competition, Saturday, March 18 being the final day of the NCAA championships. The team will be featured in two events on the final day, Callie West competing in the women's 100 free as an individual and the team aiming to slot a postseason honor in the women's 400 free relay. You can catch all the updates on your members of the Gold & White at centrecolonels.com.

DAY TWO (Thursday)
After jumping up placements in the two events they swam on Wednesday, the Centre women's swimming & diving team geared up for the second day of the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday. Similar to day one, the Colonels took on two more events in the meet's second day of competition.
 
The Gold & White's day was highlighted by the women's 200 free relay, the Colonels propelling above their entry placement of 21st into the top-20 competitors after the prelims session. The team of Elise Burch, Caroline Lee, Greer Manger and Callie West combined for a 1:35.59 time, reaching up to 19th overall in the field for their first finish of the week in the game's top-20 spots.
 
Centre featured themselves in one more event over the course of Thursday's session, West competing in the women's 100 fly as an individual. The sophomore competed in the final heat of the event, putting together a :56.05 final time to finish 23rd overall in the event's 49 competitors. West's splits inside the race were a :26.07 breakout and a :29.98 back-half split.
 
Halfway through the meet, the Colonels will have two more days of competition left at the NCAA championships, Friday's session containing the 800 free relay. The session is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET, and you can find all the results from the championships here at centrecolonels.com.

DAY ONE (Wednesday)
The Centre women's swimming & diving team took off in the first set of events they qualified in during the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday. The Colonels competed in two events; the 50 free and the 200 medley relay, both races featuring the Gold & White improving on their original placement in the psych sheet.
 
Centre's first event of the day was an individual qualifier, Callie West competing in the women's 50 free for the second year in a row. Originally slotted at 41st place coming into the meet, the sophomore jumped up four spots after the morning session to end the event tied for 37th overall out of 61 competitors. West's final time in the event was :23.82.
 
The Gold & White's second event of the day consisted of the women's 200 medley relay, the 2023 SAA runner-up squad came together and raced once more in the meet. The team of Caroline Lee, Greer Manger, West and Elise Burch combined for a 1:48.23 time in the event, finishing 27th overall in the championships. The Colonels would round out the day two-for-two in improving their seed place, ending the 200 medley relay one spot above their 28th-place rank coming into the meet.
 
The Centre women's swimming & diving team have three more days left in the NCAA championships, the Thursday slew of events looking promising for the Colonels. They'll first competing in the days' first event (women's 200 free) to kick off the day, later featuring Callie West in the women's 100 fly. The Gold & White may have an optional third event on the day as well in the 400 medley relay. Keep up-to-date on all things Centre over at centrecolonels.com.
 

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