INDIANAPOLIS – With junior Lauren Reynolds earning a spot in the consolation finals of the 100-backstroke, junior Alli Crenshaw placing eighth in the 500-freestyle, and the Moccasins' 800-freestyle relay finishing ninth, Florida Southern moved up one spot in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships.
The Moccasins started the day in 14th place, but were only two points behind Tampa and within 12 points of 10th-place Lindenwood. They improved their position by jumping one team and got within 1½ points of Tampa, which is still one spot ahead of Florida Southern, but did lose ground to Lindenwood which remained in 10th.
Crenshaw got them points right away with her eighth-place finish in the 500-freestyle, the third year in a row she's been an All-American in that event. It was her second All-American award this year in the freestyle distance events, and at that point early in the evening, it also moved Florida Southern into 11th place in the team standings.
Reynolds kept them there by finishing as an honorable mention All-American in the 100-backstroke, swimming that race in 56.28 seconds to place sixth in the consolation finals. That gives her three All-American or honorable mention awards in the 100-backstroke during her career so far.
With no one advancing to the finals in the 100-breaststroke or qualifying in the 200-butterfly, the Moccasins fell to 13th place going into the final race of the night, the 800-freestyle relay. Crenshaw, Reynolds, freshman Peyton Breault, and sophomore Cassie Ley posted a time of 7:31.74, and scored enough points to keep the Mocs there while ensuring they ended the day in a better spot than where they started it.
Queens (NC) was able to widen its lead over Drury (MO) to 66 points, threatening to end the Panthers' three-year reign as NCAA Division II National Champions. Wingate (NC) is in third place, trailing Queens by 174½, and Nova Southeastern is fourth, 68 points behind Wingate. Cal-San Diego completes the top five, and trails Nova by just 21.
The final day of the National Finals and final five events are Saturday.
