The Lindenwood swimming and diving teams finished the final day of competition at the Delta State Christmas Invite in Cleveland, Mississippi on Saturday night wth the Lions women's team finishing in 1st place, while the men battled tough, but came in 2nd, 21 points behind host Delta State in the team competition.

"I am very pleased with our semester and the performances at the Delta State Christmas Invite," said Lindenwood Head Coach Jason Owen.  "It was difficult to count the number of personal bests we had and we plan to perform even better at the Conference and National Championships.  With a group of 15 swimmers and divers likely qualified for NCAA Championships already and many others close we are excited to get back to work soon."

Jana Hellenschmidt was awarded Female Swimmer of the Meet and Katie Werkema was awarded Female Diver of the Meet, awards that were presented to the top scoring athletes in each category. Nineteen first place finishes were achieved by Lions swimmers and divers; twelve on the women's side and seven on the men's side. Top place finishes are as follows:
 
Women's 1st Place Finishes
800 Free Relay         Kunka, Rimmereide, Riegler, Hellenschmidt (7:28.02)          
1000 Free                 Jana Hellenschmidt (10:11.07 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
500 Free                   Jana Hellenschmidt  (4:53.11)
50 Free                     Lexie Winnett (23.26)
400 IM                      Jana Hellenschmidt (4:22.06 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
200 Free                   Camilla Rimmereide (1:50.59 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
100 Back                  Stephanie Marks ( 55.48 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
500 Free                   Jana Hellenschmidt (4:53.11)
50 Free                     Lexie Winnett (23.26)
1650 Free                 Jana Hellenschmidt (16:54.91)
200 Back                  Stephanie Marks (2:01.06)
1 Meter Diving         Katie Werkema  471.88 - NCAA B Qualifying Score)

Men's 1st Place Finishes
1000 Free                 Niels Engeln (9:13.99 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
400 IM                      Jan Hanzal (3:52.93 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
200 Free                   Vincent Jaworski (1:38.92 - NCAA B Qualifying Time)
1650 Free                 Niels Engeln (15:32.95)
100 Free                   Zach Linder (44.24)
200 Breast                Gerald Brown (1:59.49)
400 Free Relay         Linder, Webb, Olsson, Winiatowski  (2:57.84)       

Multiple best times and NCAA National qualifying B cuts were achieved during the meet. For a listing of the overall top performers for the Lions, including personal best and National Qualifying B times, please click here.