The Hillsdale College Chargers beat Findlay University 110-95 and Lewis University 119.5-85.5 in an Illinois tri-meet last Saturday.
The meet came down to the last event, the 200 freestyle relay, which the relay of Katherine Heeres, Anika Fassett, Emma Rao, and Marie Taylor won to secure the team win and break the Lewis University pool record by .2 seconds for a new record of 1:39.22.
Relay anchor and freshman Marie Taylor said the pressure of her position helped her to swim faster.
“Its always good to have slight pressure on yourself to do well,” Taylor said. “Moving forward, my plan is to always have that pressure because it will push me further and also push the team in general.”
Taylor put up strong performances in her other events as well, taking second and beating Findlay swimmers in the 50 freestyle (24.82) and 100 freestyle (54.04).
In general, the Chargers gathered a lot of points by securing multiple placements in each event.
“The thing that is gonna do it for us is that second line of swimmers. They put us in the position that makes it hard for the other teams to outscore us,” Head Coach Kurt Kirner said.
In the events where the Chargers were weakest, like the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke, they stacked their points by taking multiple places.
In the 100 breaststroke, Senior Victoria Addis finished third (1:10.47), sophomore Madeline Breay finished fifth (1:11.84), and sophomore Taylor Boyle finished sixth (1:12.16). Against the Findlay swimmers, this put Addis, Breay, and Boyle in second, third, and fourth place, respectively.
“Every event was exhilarating because every point mattered in this meet,” Addis said. “It was a full team effort, and you could feel it in the air.”
