TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Franklin women's swimming and diving team sits in first place through the first two nights of the 2023 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Swimming & Diving Championships.
 
The Grizzlies have collected 333 points through the first two nights and lead second place Transylvania by 80 going into a pivotal Friday session.
 
Franklin grabbed gold in four events over the first two days. The first gold was earned on Wednesday night when senior Faith Jackson claimed the top spot on the three-meter board with 413.75 points. Junior Carley Bond earned silver with 383.00 points and Kamryn Elder claimed bronze with 358.65 points. Freshman Kaleigh Schuler, junior Ashley Summers and freshman Gabby Cunningham earned the 4-6 finishes in the event, earning important points for the team.
 
Junior Samantha Phillips earned the first gold in the pool with a dominant showing in the 500 free, winning with a time of 5:03.06 ahead of teammate and silver medalist Erin Perkins and her time of 5:18.15. Senior Caileigh McCafferty captured gold in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.39, finishing in front of teammate and silver medalist Regan Hendricks and her mark of 2:14.55.
 
All three of Franklin's relays recorded podium finishes over the first two days, highlighted by a win in the 400 medley relay with McCafferty, Phillips, Kennedy Minter and Becky Pfeifer recording a time of 4:00.81. The 800 free relay of Pfeifer, Perkins, Jyllian Antle and Grace Williams grabbed silver on night one with a time of 8:09.24. Minter, Phillips, Hendricks and McCafferty finished out the second day with a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay in 1:39.55.
 
Day three of the HCAC Championships gets underway on Friday (Feb. 10) with preliminaries starting at 10:00 a.m. and the finals taking place later in the day.