Cleveland, Mississippi - The Trinity men's and women's swimming & diving teams swept the three-day 2004 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships at Delta State University.

Trinity's women set a new record by scoring 1,030 points in the meet, and both teams recorded their fourth wins in six years at the championship meet.  The two teams led throughout the three-day event, holding off DePauw's men's team and Sewanee's women's team in the process.

On the men's side, Ryan Van Der Kar was named the SCAC Male Swimmer of the Year for the third consecutive season, which extends his school record.  Van Der Kar was named the Co-Swimmer of the Year in 2002, and won the award by himself last season.  Van Der Kar won three events individually, as well as being a part of two winning relay teams.  

Van Der Kar won his second straight title in both the 200 butterfly and the 500 freestyle, while his gold medal in the 400 IM marked his fourth straight victory.  He becomes just the second swimmer in SCAC Championships history to win a single event for four straight years, both of which were from Trinity (All-American Dylan Stentiford was the other).

The event featured 23 total All-SCAC performances by the women and 17 by the men, which doesn't include the five relay teams on each team, all of which were named All-SCAC.  The women's team won eight individual races, as well as three relays.  The men's team captured nine individual races and four of the five relays. 

For the women, seniors Stephanie Walla and Christy Anderson, and first-year Lauren Clements each won two races.  Walla, a senior, won the 100 backstroke for the first time in her career at the SCAC Championships, and then won the 200 backstroke for the third time in four years.  Clements won both the 100 and 200 butterfly races.  Anderson won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, also for the first time in her career.

Catherine Jelf and Jessica Isenberg also won individual races for the Tigers.  Jelf won the 400 individual medley and Isenberg took the title in the 100 freestyle.  Jelf won the 400 IM for the second straight year, giving Trinity the title in that race every year since 1999.  Isenberg, a two-time SCAC Champion, won the 100 free for the second-consecutive season. 

Aside from Van Der Kar's record-breaking performance, first-year Dan Petersen had a great championships debut for the Tigers.  Petersen won the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke, as well as racing the third leg of four gold medal relay teams.  Seniors Zach Coburn and Andrew Callahan also played major roles in the men's team's victory, winning two individual events and helping in the relays.  Coburn won the 100 backstroke for the third time in four years, while Callahan won the 100 freestyle for his first career title.  Callahan was a part of three of four championship relay teams, while Coburn began all four relay teams.

First-years Evan O'Dea and Blair Boudousquie were the other Tiger individuals to win individual events.  Boudousquie won the 1650 freestyle, while O'Dea captured the 200 freestyle title.   

In addition to the 25 SCAC Championships won by Trinity's teams, ten school records were broken in the meet, including four relay records.  The women's team broke the records for the 200 freestyle and medley relay records, as well as the 400 freestyle relay; the men broke the record for the 400 medley relay.  Walla and Isenberg also broke individual records for the women, while Petersen added three school records to his long list of accolades in his first season.

The Tiger men's and women's team and coaching staff celebrate their SCAC titles in the Delta State University pool

The women's team set a new record as the only SCAC team in history 
to score more than 1,000 points at the championships meet

The men's team led the entire way in the meet, 
upending defending champion DePauw University