Chargers triumph at first away meet

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Chargers triumph at first away meet
Madeline Breay swims during the 1000 yard freestyle on January 19. (Christian Yiu | Collegian)

Last Saturday, the Hillsdale College women’s swimming team traveled to Bethel University in Elkhart, Indiana to compete in their second in-person meet of the semester. The Chargers beat their three competitors with scores of 146-114 over Indian Wesleyan University, 176-79 over Bethel University, and 187-64 over Anderson University. 

In their first in-person away meet of the season, the Chargers performed exceptionally well. 

“All three teams were really good,” freshman Sarah Pataniczek said. “We had a lot of good swims, the energy was really high, and it was just really fun to compete again.”

Sophomore Leah Tunney placed first in the 200 backstroke (2:09.58), with teammates senior Katherine Heeres (2:11.79) and freshman Caroline Holmes  (2:12.45) placing second and third, respectively. 

“Not everybody had best times, but we all had a lot of fun,” said freshman swimmer Elizabeth Stacey. “It was nice to get on the bus and feel out what a real meet was.” 

There were many more wins of the day, including Tunney’s first place in the 100 backstroke (59.61), Holmes’ third in the 100 backstroke (1:01.41), sophomore Marie Taylor’s firsts in the 50 freestyle (24.66) and the 100 freestyle (54.52), sophomore Madison Pyhel’s first in the 200 butterfly  (2:12.05), freshman Cecilia Guadalupi’s first in the 200 breaststroke (2:29.37), Heeres’s first in the 200 freestyle (2:00.80), the 200 medley A-Relay’s first place (4:04.52), and the 400 freestyle A-relay’s first place (3:39.82)

The Chargers placed in every event this weekend. Freshman Phoebe Johnston, who placed fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:24.91), said the team’s success this weekend can be largely attributed to their more intense training schedule over the past few weeks.

“We’ve been doing a lot of yardage recently, so really working on endurance,” Johnston said. “Building endurance back up is the worst part but also one of the most important parts. We can feel ourselves getting stronger.”

Although the team has a couple of months before they advance into G-MAC, Johnston said she’s predicting high scores.

“If we keep training the way we are, once we start tapering I think we’ll be in really good shape,” Johnston  said. “Some of the girls have been scoping out the other teams and we’re definitely in a good spot. I think the biggest concern is just if we get quarantined again, or something like that. That’ll take us out for a week or two.”

Pataniczek echoed Johnston’s concerns, but said the team has a positive mindset and is excited for what’s in store. 

The Chargers will travel to Olivet College on Saturday, Jan. 30, for a dual meet against the Comets at 1 p.m.