Centre Swim & Dive got back into competition for the 1st time since November via the 24th annual Colonel Classic over the weekend at Champions Hall.

The Colonels posted strong numbers across the board, placing 2nd in the women's swim standings and 3rd on the men's side. Men's Diving dominated on both boards as the Colonels swept the top 4 spots. Women's Dive placed multiple in the top 10.

Here is how the action shaped up on Friday night:

Centre Women started the night with a 3rd place finish in the 200 free relay. Caroline Lee swam the fastest leg, going 23.80 as the anchor to wrestle 3rd away from Milligan. The men placed 4th in the same event with a total time of 1:27.86.

Women's Diving then took center stage. Riley Taylor led the Colonels with a score of 196.65 to place 3rd. Erin Dannemiller finished 6th with 189.15 points. Sara Jean Postle was 9th and Marissa Loster placed 10th.

Justin Toth crushed the 1-meter competition as he rolled to the win with 359.65 points, a margin of victory of 82.05 points over teammate Rowan Fitzsimmons, who made his return after studying abroad during the fall semester. Brandon Anderson was 3rd, followed by Garrett George in 4th, Garrett Urash in 6th and Ben Reynolds in 7th.

A distance swim came next, in which Sarah Feild finished 4th in the 500 free with a time of 5:23.05. Katelynn Stanczyk swam 6th in a time of 5:24.27. Vreni Reichard was 11th, followed by Roya Sanai (12th), Emma Meyer (13th), and Mikalya Pruett (16th). In the men's 500 free, Brady Miller finished a close 2nd in 4:38.23, just 0.29 from the win.

Cate Coartney led the Colonels in the women's 200 IM as she swam 3rd with a time of 2:14.69. Avery Gabbard placed 6th, while Natalie Cox swam 10th overall. Gavin Schoeling was the best men's swimmer for Centre, finishing 9th overall out fo 36.

Caroline Lee brought in a runner-up finish in the 50 free with a time of 24.34 seconds. Xavier Moore placed 3rd in the event in a time of 21.70, just 0.38 off the win.

The 400 medley relay concluded Friday night as both Centre women and men finished 3rd.

The action shifted to Saturday, with the following highlights:

The 200 medley relay started the swim side on Saturday. Centre Women "A" finished 2nd in a time of 1:51.15. Caroline Lee turned in another blistering anchor leg as her 50-yard split came in 23.84, the best of any swimmer in any leg. Centre Men "A" swam 3rd in a time of 1:35.32.

After a 3rd place in the 200 IM on Friday, Cate Coartney did the same on Saturday in the 400 IM, completing the race in a time of 4:50.30. Later on Saturday, Coartney swam 3rd in the 200 fly in a time of 2:15.51. She was one of 4 Colonels with multiple podium finishes on Saturday.

Another to accomplish the feat was Brady Miller. He started his day with a 3rd in the 200 free and a 2nd in the 1650 (1 mile) free. Gavin Schoeling finished just behind Miller in the 200 free for 4th place.

The strong results continued in the 100 breaststroke event. Natalie Cox finished 2nd overall with Ava Gates bringing home a 3rd place effort. Tiernan Moore swam 2nd in the same event in a time of 57.04. He also placed 3rd in the 200 breaststroke.

Caroline Lee was the 4th Colonel to grab multiple podiums. She finished 2nd in the 100 free in a time of 54.01 and 3rd in the 100 back in 59.82 seconds. Avery Gabbard (5th) and Roya Sanai (9th) also placed in the top 10 of the 100 back. In the men's 100 back, Xavier Moore finished 2nd with Dustin Niebauer placing 4th and Cullen Roberts 6th.

The final swim event of the morning session came via the 800 free relay. Centre Women "A" came home in 2nd. The quartet of Avery Gabbard, Cate Coartney, Sarah Feild and Katelynn Stanczyk swam a time of 8:10.91. Centre Men "A" were the highest for the Colonels in the men's race with a 4th place finish.

Diving put a bow on the morning session and again Centre's men dominated, this time on the high board. Justin Toth pulled off another comfortable win with a final score of 339.20. Rowan Fitzsimmons was 2nd at 307.80, followed by Brandon Anderson in 3rd (286.10), Garrett George in 4th (276.10), Garrett Urash 6th (190.80) and Ben Reynolds in 8th (178.50). On the women's 1-meter side, Erin Dannemiller jumped up to 3rd (215.40 points). Riley Taylor (203.25) was 5th, with Sara Jean Postle (187.90) in 6th and Marissa Loster (157.60) in 10th.

Avery Gabbard brought home another podium finish with a 3rd in the 200 back. Katie Bridwell swam 5th, holding off Roya Sanai (6th) and Sophie Anderson (8th). Jack Liau nearly brought home a win in the 200 fly as he finished 2nd in a time of 1:55.47, just 0.94 seconds behind.

In the final relay of the event, Centre Women "A" finished 3rd in the 400 free. Caroline Lee's anchor leg of 52.99 was again the fastest of any swimmer in any leg. Centre's Men finished 4th in the same event to close out the classic.

Afterwards, Head Coach Dean Brownley noted his happiness with the team's effort coming off the long layoff. He mentioned the team's ability to clean up mistakes as the weekend went along and felt they were locked in for Saturday afternoon's session. He also felt the addition of the student-athletes, who were studying abroad in the fall, provided a big boost and will only help the team over the next month ahead of the SAA Championships.

Before that, Centre will have its Senior Night next Friday night as the Colonels take on Transylvania and Cumberlands at Champions Hall.