KINGSPORT, TN - The Owls traveled to Kingsport, TN on Saturday to participate in the King Invitational hosted by King University. Despite competing against a full slate of Division II teams, the Blue and Green walked away with a full slate of positive outcomes.

On the men's side, senior John Vess began his final season of eligibility with a bang. They placed 17th and clocked a time of 22.60 in the 50 FR which was less than .7 off their own school record. Vess also placed 20th in the 100 IM (59.98) and made massive contributions to both the 200 and 400 medley relays with breaststroke splits of 28.64 and 1:04.26, respectively. He also led off the 200 freestyle relay in 23.05. 

The women were led by freshman Elena Walker who managed to post three lifetime best splits in her relay performances. In her first-ever collegiate meet, Wheeler dropped a total of 1.53 seconds as the breaststroker in both the 200 and 400 medley relays and the 200 freestyle relay. She also swam the 100 IM and 200 IM and was just off her lifetime best times in both events. 

"This team walked into an extremely intimidating environment against some highly successful DII teams," commented head coach Rebecca Westfall. "I was so proud to see that they were able to stay focused on what matters to us most: execution of the things we've practiced and, most importantly, caring more about the successes of our teammates more than our own. Our energy and presence was impeccable"

The Owls return to action this Saturday, October 7th when they travel to Winston Salem to take on in-conference foes Salem College and William Peace University at 2:00 PM.