Excitement filled the Jack McAvoy Natatorium as the Hillsdale College Chargers competed for the first time this season in their annual Blue-White alumni intersquad homecoming meet.
The blue team beat the white team by a narrow margin, their times being 52 minutes, 9.05 seconds to 52:47.86, respectively. The final results were compiled by adding the top eight times from each team in each event, and the team with the least amount of time in the pool won.
The freshmen particularly enjoyed competing with the team for the first time, and freshman Marie Taylor even earned a new personal best time in the 200 individual medley
Assistant coach Elizabeth Tracey said the team performed well for having to swim every event.
“The team has had a few tough training weeks, so having them get up and race every event was a challenge, but they really embraced it and supported each other,” Tracey said.
The returning alumnae seemed to fit right back into the camaraderie, and three graduates — Diana Holmes `12, Kenzi Dickhudt `17, and Anika Ellingson `19 — even competed against each other in a 50 freestyle and 100 IM.
Holmes said she enjoyed swimming competitively again, even if only for a few events.
“It was really good to get back in the pool,” Holmes said. “I didn’t realize how much I missed the competition.”
Ellingson said she had been looking forward to the event since graduation in May.
“It’s nice to be back with the people that I spent the majority of my time with,” Ellingson said. “This was my family, and the pool was my second home.”
For freshman Anika Fassett, it was cool to meet the swimmers who were on the team years before them.
“You hear about all these people because all the other people on the team talk about them,” Fassett said. “So now you can put names to faces and they’re cheering for you because you’re part of their legacy.”
The Chargers will host their first official meet against Davenport University on Saturday, Oct. 5.