Newman, Wright Impress on Day Two of RMAC Championships

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Two NCAA qualifying marks, one conference award winner, one Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion, and three top-three finishes. On top of all of this, the Oklahoma Baptist women's team also improved their team rank to second with an overall score of 261, and the men's team currently sits in fourth with a score of 223.50.
 
It was all in a day's work for the Bison at the 2021 RMAC Championships.
 
Cassidy Wright earned an NCAA "A" cut for the one meter dive after she posted a score of 436.40. This automatically punches her ticket to her fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships and earned Wright the gold medal and the title of RMAC champion.
 
William Newman also earned another NCAA "B" cut, this time for the 100 yard fly. He posted a time of 49.07, needing 49.13 to qualify.
 
Newman, a senior biochemistry major, was also announced as the recipient of the 2021 RMAC Summit Award, presented to the men's and women's student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average from the most recently completed term who also participated in the RMAC championship. The Summit Award winner must have competed in 20 percent of available team competitions.
 
In other top finishes from Thursday, Jamie Edwards tied with Savannah Tice from Western Colorado for third in the 100 yard fly with a time of 57.15.
 
"The ladies moved up to second place today, helped along by Wright's win in the one meter diving," said OBU head coach Matt Hood. "I'm really excited for their continued momentum. We're set up to have an awesome day tomorrow with some of our stronger events and are looking forward to swimming fast again."
 
The RMAC Championships continue on Friday, Feb. 19, with preliminary races set for 9 a.m. local time (10 a.m. CT) and finals set for 4 p.m. local time (5 p.m. CT). Day three events include the 500 yard freestyle, 100 yard backstroke, 100 yard breaststroke, 200 yard fly, and men's one meter dive.

For full coverage of the Friday's events, including live video and results, visit the RMAC Championship Central page.