CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The William Peace University men's and women's swimming teams wrapped up competition at the 2026 Independent South Swimming Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina from February 12-14. The Pacers' men placed third overall with 117 team points, while the women finished third overall with 78 points after three days of competition.
Day 1 - Thursday Finals
William Peace opened the meet with strong performances on Thursday. On the men's side, AJ Newton placed second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:14.59, while Ruben Garcia finished sixth in 5:40.55. In the 200-yard IM, Kaitlyn Kucera led the women with a fifth-place finish in 2:26.87, and Cormac Davis placed fourth in the men's 200 IM with a time of 2:15.38.
Charlize DeLair added a fifth-place finish in the women's 50 freestyle in 27.23, while Kylie McWhorter finished eighth in 30.13.
The men closed the night with a third-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:49.85) behind the squad of Jack Lancaster, Kadin Rayford, AJ Newton, and Cormac Davis. After the opening day, the men sat third overall with 44 points, and the women were third with 19 points.
Day 2 - Friday Finals
The Pacers continued to add points across multiple events on Friday. Charlize DeLair recorded a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.37. Cormac Davis placed fourth in the men's 100 butterfly (56.22), and AJ Newton added an eighth-place finish (58.57).
In the women's 200 freestyle, Kaitlyn Kucera finished sixth in 2:08.41, while Jocie Dingle placed seventh. Jack Lancaster led the men in the 200 freestyle with a fifth-place finish (1:54.30), followed by Stone Doppke in sixth and Ruben Garcia in eighth. Joshua Day placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.34), and Kadin Rayford finished fourth in the 100 backstroke (59.94).
The women's 400 medley relay team of Kylie McWhorter, Kaitlyn Kucera, Charlize DeLair, and Elise Langer finished third in 4:57.75, while the men's 400 medley relay team of Ruben Garcia, Joshua Day, AJ Newton, and Stone Doppke also placed third in 4:15.14.
Through two days, the women remained third with 47 points, and the men held third with 86 points.
Day 3 - Saturday Finals
William Peace closed the championships with additional scoring performances on Saturday. Kylie McWhorter placed seventh in the 200 backstroke (2:47.24). In the men's 200 backstroke, Cormac Davis finished fourth in 2:11.69.
Elise Langer and Jocie Dingle scored in the women's 100 freestyle, placing fifth and sixth, respectively. Jack Lancaster and Kadin Rayford added seventh- and eighth-place finishes in the men's 100 freestyle.
Kaitlyn Kucera finished eighth in the 200 breaststroke (2:55.15), while Joshua Day placed fifth in the men's 200 breaststroke (2:36.68).
DeLair capped the individual events with a championship performance in the 200 butterfly, winning the event in 2:23.89.
The women's 400 freestyle relay team of McWhorter, Langer, DeLair, and Kucera placed third in 4:24.12, while the men's relay team of Lancaster, Davis, Day, and Rayford also earned a third-place finish in 3:25.23.
The Pacers concluded the three-day meet with both programs finishing third overall in the team standings.
