KINGSPORT, Tenn. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Swimming Team started off its 2023-24 campaign with a fourth-place finish in the Kingsport Invitational. 

Ella Penny recorded a team-best 46 points in the competition with three top five finishes. Her best result came with a 2:11.86 performance in the 200-yard backstroke that was good enough for a second-place result. 

The sophomore also finished fourth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:14.15 and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:02.08. 

In her first collegiate swimming meet, Anna Buchert notched a couple of top seven finishes in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle races. The freshman finished in second place in the 200-yard race with a time of 1:59.88 while coming in seventh in the 500-yard race with a 5:21.01 result. 

For the relay races, the Bears finished in sixth and seventh place during the 400 and 200-yard medley events, respectively. The combined efforts of Penny, Devin Poteat, Ann-Cathrine Beissel, and Olivia DeRosier recorded a time of 1:57.28 in the 200-yard race and a time of 4:19.27 in the 400-yard race. 

The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Swimming Team will return to the pool on Thursday, Oct. 12 for its first dual meet of the season against Catawba in Salisbury, N.C.