Noah Brand pulled away to win the 100 Yard Fly in a Southern Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships meet record of 48.43, highlighting a solid Friday in the pool for Berry's men's and women's squads on the third day of the 2023 meet in Birmingham, Ala.
Brand qualified for the finals with a time of 48.33 in the morning session, then had plenty left in the tank to clock a time of 48.43 to set a new record for the SAA finals. His time is also an NCAA "B" Cut time for the 2023 NCAA Championships. The senior pulled away to win by better than a second in the event.
While Brand netted the only gold for the Vikings in the third day of action, there were still pleny of good results throughout the evening session for both the BC men and women. The women's side was highlighted by
Grace Pleasant and
Viola Hasko, who finished in second and third, respectively, in the 100 Yard Breast. The pair actually took more than a second off their times from the 2022 edition of the SAA Championships with their performances.
Berry's women's 400 Yard Medley Relay quartet of
Isabella Decker, Pleasant,
Hannah Smith, and
Sarabeth Brown touched the wall in third place, beating Birmingham-Southern by over 1.5 seconds for the bronze position. Pleasant moved the Vikings into the third position on the eighth trip across the 25 Yard pool for the team, then Smith and Brown pulled away to get the third place position for Berry.
Berry's men's 400 Yard Medley Relay team of
Sam Tate, Mac Shefchunas, Brand, and
Harrison McNeil touched in the silver slot ahead of BSC. The Vikings were in third after the first two legs of the relay, but Brand turned on the proverbial jets to push the Vikings into second, then McNeil stopped the clock at 3:22.37 to best the Panthers' relay squad by .38.
Both of Berry's teams sit in fourth in the meet out of seven teams, with Berry's men just five points out of third place behind Centre. The meet is slated to wrap up Saturday, with the qualifying round starting at 11 a.m. before the seventh and final session starts at 7 p.m.
