Statesboro, Ga. –  The Georgia Southern Swimming and Diving team had a season for the record books.  Consistent training, renewed focus in the weight room and a strong "Team First" mentality were all integral parts in the recipe of success for the Eagles this season which culminated in a 3rd place finish at the Coastal Carolina Swimming Association Championships.  Head Coach Nate Kellogg recalls the 11 school records that fell during the Championship meet.

800 Free Relay - Kylee Parsons, Madison Lichtefeld, Kaylyn Thomas, Amber Cortazzo (7:26.65)
"Heading into this race, we had anticipated a strong performance. Three of the four relay members were freshmen and we specifically recruited them to help us with this relay. It can be a bit stressful to have three freshmen on a relay to start the meet because there is a tendency to get nervous, but we were very confident in them and knew they could get it done. This relay provided a big spark for us and a huge confidence-builder for our team for the rest of the meet."

500 Free - Kylee Parsons (4:54.29)
"In prelims that morning, Kylee said it felt so easy and that she had a lot of gas left in the tank. At finals that night, she went out a bit too fast but still looked easy. She led the entire race then just hit a wall at the 400-yard mark. I think she would have a slightly different race plan if she had another chance, but it was still a heck of a swim. I give her a lot of credit because she did not go for the record, she went for the win."

200 IM - Amber Cortazzo (2:05.30)
"Amber kind of came out of nowhere to break this school record. She was hurt and out of the pool three weeks leading up to the CCSA Championships, but she is a tremendous racer and it showed. She has three really good strokes and we focused a lot on improving her weakest stroke this year - backstroke. With more consistent training, the sky is the limit for Amber in the 200 IM."

50 Free - Elaina Lanson (22.88)
"This was a record that had been on Elaina's radar since she set foot on campus her freshman year. She had been 23.0s so many times, I think she got to the point where she never thought she would get under the 23.0 mark. We were so happy for her to finally get that record during her senior year. I think the strength training - the consistent hard work she put in the weight room - really helped her achieve her goal of breaking this record."

200 Free Relay - Kylee Parsons, Christina Moran, Kaylyn Thomas, Elaina Lanson (1:32.11)
"This relay came together very late in the season. Before finals, we told them what each needed to split (Kylee: 23.5, Christina: 23.0, Kaylyn 23.6, Elaina: 22.2) in order to get on the podium and I think that really motivated them. They were fired up! In fact, they each split about .1 faster than what we told them they needed to split. They broke the previous school record by over 2.5 seconds. We were elated with how they executed."

100 Fly - Megan Heller (55.90)
"Megan went 55.96 to set the school record during prelims and came back at finals and went 55.90. She really worked on her second 50 throughout the year. She always had the speed on the front-half, but would fade. I think the work she did to prepare for her back-half was tremendous. She had been incredibly consistent in her training all year which allowed her confidence to grow. This was no doubt Megan's best season and it's great to see that from your seniors." 

200 Free - Kylee Parsons (1:49.69)
"Kylee has set this record each of the past three years. She led off our 800 Free Relay and set the school record. She had been sitting at 1:50. for a few years, and it was a huge barrier to break for her. Kylee is an awesome relay swimmer. She led off the 200, 400, and 800 Free Relays, which she loves. We did a lot more power work with her this year than in the past and it showed because she had a lot more speed this year than before."

100 Back - Christina Moran (55.38)
"Christina initially set the school record in prelims, going 55.51 then going 55.38 in finals. The past two years, she had been sitting right at 56-low and had this record in her sights. I think the power work Christina did really helped, along with really pushing her underwaters. She is unbelievably consistent in workouts and does a really good job of getting out of her comfort zone on a daily basis."

200 Back - Christina Moran (2:00.09)
"Last year, Christina broke the school record going 2:00.12, so this was just slightly faster. But there's no doubt that her goal is to break the 2:00 barrier and I'm certain that will happen next year. Although she's made significant progress in both backstroke events, the 200 is her bread and butter. The 200 Back is one of the toughest events in our sport and it's on the last day of the conference championship meet, which makes it even tougher. I think she was running out of gas that last day, but to her credit she had a great swim."

200 Fly - Lauren Campbell (2:03.88)
"This was the second consecutive year Lauren broke the school record in the 200 Fly. Last year she went 2:03.98. We thought she might have been 2:02 this year and next year I think she could be2:01. She has the front-end speed, great underwaters, and trains with our distance group almost exclusively. She has really improved her consistency in training over the past year."

400 Free Relay - Kylee Parsons, Christina Moran, Kaylyn Thomas, Elaina Lanson (3:23.08)
"This was the final event of the meet and everyone is mentally and physically drained at the end of a 4-day meet. Kylee, Christina, Kaylyn and Elaina all excel on relays and stepped up big for our team. It was a fitting way to finish the meet."

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