3 AAC Teams Finish in Top 12 at NAIA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships

Emma Phillips
March 12, 2025

ELKHART, Ind. - Three Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams placed in the top 12 at the 2025 NAIA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship Meet.

The four-day event was held at the Beacon Health Elkhart Aquatic Center in Elkhart, Ind., March 5-8.

Milligan led the AAC with an eighth-place finish as it amassed 191 points. Union Commonwealth tallied 182 points to finish ninth. Meanwhile, Brenau scored 104 points to land 12th.

Emma Phillips of Union Commonwealth was the AAC's top scorer as she accounted for 39 points in earning four NAIA All-American honors.

Riley Renaud of Milligan and Sarah Graves of Union Commonwealth recorded the highest finish by an AAC individual. Renaud placed third in the 1650 free with a time of 17:23.82, and Graves was third in the 3-meter diving, scoring 174.55 points.

Several individuals earned NAIA All-America Team honors. The honorees are:

  • 800 free relay – Union Commonwealth (Manca Petric, Emma Phillips, Lise Puissant, Dori Jozsa), fifth (7:43.89); Milligan (Riley Renaud, Mary Grace Bitting, Peyton Brady, Samanth van Vuure), seventh (7:48.03)
  • 500 free – Riley Renaud, Milligan (fourth, 5:05.08)
  • 200 IM – Emma Phillips, Union Commonwealth (seventh, 2:05.54)
  • 3-meter diving – Sarah Graves, Union Commonwealth (third, 174.55 points)
  • 200 free relay – Milligan (Madison Akbari, Mary Grace Bitting, Teagan Jose, Samantha van Vuure), seventh (1:37. 05)
  • 400 IM – Emma Phillips, Union Commonwealth (fourth, 4:29.35)
  • 200 free – Manca Petric, Union Commonwealth (eighth, 1:54.34)
  • 100 breast – Tessa IP Hen Cheung, Brenau (eighth, 1:05.09)
  • 200 back – Samantha van Vuure, Milligan (sixth, 2:04.70)
  • 200 breast – Tessa IP Hen Cheung, Brena (fifth, 2:21.29); Emma Phillips, Union Commonwealth (seventh, 2:22.76); Teagan Jose, Milligan (eighth, 2:23.30)
  • 200 fly – Mary Grace Bitting, Milligan (fourth, 2:07.41)
  • 1-meter diving – Sarah Graves, Union Commonwealth (eighth, 141.90 points)
  • 1650 free – Riley Renaud, Milligan (third, 17:23.82); Manca Petric, Union Commonwealth (sixth, 17:42.31)

To earn All-American honors, an individual must finish in the top eight of an event.

To view all of the results, click here.