The Hillsdale women’s swim team wrapped up their season this past weekend by taking fifth place at the GLIAC conference championship, which is the best they’ve done since 2006. The four-day weekend of competition was full of record-breaking and personal best performances.
Hillsdale’s most impressive showings were provided by its younger swimmers- freshmen and sophomores.
Consistent freshman distance swimmer Zoe Hopkins ended up with two school records after all was said and done. Destroying her own previous school record in the mile (1650 free) by 23 seconds and placing seventh in the event wasn’t even her biggest contribution to the team. Instead it came from her second place finish in the 1000 free with a time of 10:29.26, another record. Hopkins has b-cuts in both events, which means she has a shot at travelling to Alabama for nationals.
“I had a really good taper, and felt very well rested for GLIACS. It’s been a very long and hard season, but it’s been good,” Hopkins said.
Hillsdale also received two record-breaking performances from sophomore standout sprinter Rachael Kurtz. Kurtz, who already had both the 50 and 100 yard records, bettered her times in the events to 23.61 and 51.71, good enough for fourth and seventh places, respectively.
Other impressive performances came from junior Ali Bauer (1:06.6 in the 100 breast), junior Jordan Rucinski (5:08.31 in the 500 free), and sophomore Sarah Rinaldi (2:07.64 in the 200 IM).
Hillsdale’s youngsters, despite performing notably, didn’t steal all the limelight. Senior Catherine Shilka swam an impressive 57.7 in the 100 butterfly, good enough for fifth place, and junior Becca Remmes set a new record in the 100 back with a time of 58.8.
Hillsdale’s relays also have the team’s veterans to thank for their success. Seniors Sarah Leitner and Sami Ward both took part in Hillsdale’s 200 free relay which took fifth place, while Remmes and Shilka swam in Hillsdale’s record-setting 200 medley relay, which finished with a time of 1:47.12.
Senior AnnMarie Brinkman has mixed feelings about the season coming to an end.
“I have been swimming for 16 years now, so it’s bittersweet now that it’s coming to an end,” Brinkman said.“[I’m] really happy with how things went. We took fifth overall, we had lots of girls swimming at night in the finals which is great, and it’s been the best season we’ve had as a team in my four years here.”
Coach Kurt Kirner was extremely happy with how things played out. The girls have been stuck at sixth place in recent years, so he was pleased that the girls were able to beat out tough GLIAC opponent Ashland and take fifth place.
Kirner was most impressed with freshman Zoe Hopkins, who he commended for “coming into her element and becoming comfortable in new events.”
As for the team, Kirner thinks his girls “were the most mentally tough and put their noses to the grindstones when it was time to race.”
Kirner is optimistic for the future with youngsters like Rinaldi, Kurtz, and Hopkins, but also realizes that other swimmers will need to step up to fill the voids left by seniors Leitner, Ward, and Lauren Burt in sprint freestyle relays.
For right now, the few girls who made b-cuts for nationals will continue training in hopes of earning a shot at the big race, and the girls who didn’t will take some time off before restarting their training for next year.
