The women’s swim team had a disappointing beginning to their season in their first official meet as they fell to the Wildcats of Northern Michigan 130-75 at home.
Hillsdale’s only first place finishes came from sophomore Jennifer Wheeler, who took the 1000 free in 10:52.98, and junior Rachel Kurtz, who won the 100 free in 55.53.
The Chargers’ best event was probably the 1000 free, with sophomores Zoe Hopkins and Hannah Leitner taking third and fourth place respectively, in addition to Wheeler’s win. Other notable performers for the Chargers were senior Jordan Rucinski (third in the 200 and 500 free), junior Sarah Rinaldi and freshman Emily Balog (second and third in the 200 IM respectively), sophomore Naofa Noll (second in the 100 butterfly), freshman Kylie Powrie (second in the 500 free), junior Ali Bauer (second in the 100 breast), and the 200 freestyle relay (senior Hayley Johnson, freshman Emily Shallman, Powrie and Kurtz).
Kurtz had a strong start to her season. In addition to taking first place in the 100 free, she also took second in the 50 free. Kurtz noted the new level of training that has become the new norm for the team.
“It’s standard to have high yardage early in the season but I think he [head coach Kurt Kirner] has intensified training a bit,” she said. Kurtz focused on the positive side of the loss, saying, “we’d like to have a good record but training is more important in the long run.”
Rinaldi attributes the results of the meets to the workload the girls have been dealing with recently.
“We are all pretty tired, but it’s important to work through that. We’ve had really hard practices lately but considering that, I think we did well,” she said.
Rinaldi also thinks the team will draw inspiration from the loss, as well as from the special technique training they’ve had recently.
“I think it will motivate us to work hard this week,” she added.
Kirner is optimistic despite the loss. He noted the impressive performances of Wheeler and Hopkins in the 1000 free, Kurtz’s time in the 50 free, which is quite fast for this early in the season, and the girls in the 100 breaststroke who all swam very well (Bauer, Rinaldi, and junior Cayley Cruickshank). Kirner has high hopes for the rest of the season, too.
“We have the same talent group as last year, lost only a little, and gained some in the freshman class,” Kirner noted. “We went from being a breaststroke deficient team two seasons ago to having one of the best now.”
The girls will have a chance to bounce back from the loss this coming Saturday at Lewis University. Kirner hopes the team will “swim well in someone’s pool and do better than last week by not taking any steps backwards. I’m optimistic though.”
Until then, the girls will stay on the grind and work hard as they always do.
