South Georgia State College’s men’s and women’s swim teams earned NJCAA runner-up honors last week at the NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Fort Pierce, Fla. Host Indian River State College won both sides of the meet for the 43rd year in a row. On the women’s side, SGSC took second place and Monroe Community College was third. For the men, SGSC was second and Iowa Central Community College placed third. SGSC swim coach CM Jenkins received the 2016 Women’s Swimming and Diving National Coach of the Year award.
“I am extremely honored to have our team experience this much deserved recognition for their hard work and effort throughout this season,” commented Jenkins. “Nobody realizes how hard these student athletes work to get to this point and how dedicated they have been to accomplish this goal.”
The 24 members of the SGSC swim program each swam four individual events. Out of 96 swims, the Hawks placed 50 people in the top 8, A finals. The Hawks’ relays also shined during the week, earning six second-place finishes, two for third-place and two for fourth-place.
The Hawks swimmers also set 18 new team records at the meet. Jenkins further states, “This has been by far the best we have swam as a team in our six years. Our relays were all solid, and having over half of our team make the podium is unprecedented for us.”
SGSC President Dr. Virginia Carson comments, “I am so proud of this significant accomplishment. These young women and men have worked so hard and are so deserving of this national second-place finish. I want to offer my personal thanks and congratulations to Coach Jenkins as well. His leadership and commitment to the sport have resulted in a top-notch program here at SGSC, and his swimmers and the College are recipients of his efforts.”
– Submitted by Walda Kight, SGSC Vice President for External Affairs