GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Feb. 11, 2020) – In its debut season of 2017-18, Oklahoma Christian's women finished eighth in the nine-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Eagles edged up a spot last season to seventh.
They're looking for more upward movement this season in the annual RMAC Championships. After two years in Lewisville, Texas, the league swimming meet is being held this week at El Pomar Natatorium on the campus of Colorado Mesa and will start a four-day run on Wednesday.
OC already has a pair of swimmers who have met the NCAA Division II B time standard in their events – a necessity if swimmers want to qualify for the Division II Championships next month – and have one more who's not far from doing so in another event.
The Eagles' top freestylers this season have been junior
Jamie McGarrigle and freshman
Kayci McKinnon. McGarrigle, from Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., ranks sixth in the RMAC in the 50-yard freestyle with a top time of 24.08 seconds – just .05 off the NCAA B standard.
McKinnon, from Trophy Club, Texas, is OC's top distance swimmer. Her top time of 5:01.66 in the 500 freestyle ranks third in the RMAC and met the NCAA B standard. She also ranks in the top 10 in the league in the 1,650 freestyle (fifth), 200 freestyle (eighth) and 1,000 freestyle (ninth).
Freshman
Cheyenne Parks of Guthrie, Okla., and sophomore
Savanna Barth of Stillwater, Okla., are the Eagles' top hopes in the backstroke events. Parks' 2:01.28 in the 200 backstroke met the NCAA B standard and ranks third in the RMAC. She also ranks seventh in the 100 backstroke while Barth is 11th.
McGarrigle is seventh in the RMAC in the 100 butterfly while
Brenda Mendes, a freshman from Windermere, Fla., is fifth in the 200 butterfly. OC's best breaststroker this season has been sophomore
Andrea Rogers of St. Charles, Mo., who ranks 12th in the league in the 200 and 13th in the 100.
Two wild cards for the Eagles this season are a pair of freshmen who joined the roster at mid-season,
Mallory Mead of Timonium, Md., and
Hope Hill of Santa Clarita, Calif. Both impressed in a pair of meets last month and should contend for A finals in multiple events.
Defending champion Colorado Mesa and Oklahoma Baptist figure to be the meet favorites.
