The Hillsdale College swimming team maintained an undefeated record last Saturday as half of the team traveled to Ashland University and won the dual meet 125 – 101.
The distance swimmers performed well with Chargers taking first, second, and third in the 1650 yard freestyle. Sophomore Madison Pyhel captured first with a time of 18:15.20, sophomore Sarah Clark finished second in 18:19.80, and junior Anna Clark snagged third with a time of 19:04.60.
Pyhel impressed in the 100 butterfly, finishing in a minute flat (1:00.80), and A. Clark finished second with a time of 1:02.08.
Pyhel said she was a bit apprehensive about the 100 fly as she didn’t have much time to warm down from her last race.
“I’m really happy with the outcome. I wasn’t expecting to go a minute flat,” Pyhel said. “Despite both relays being disqualified, we were still able to pull out with a win and could overcome the obstacles.”
The relays Pyhel referred to were the 200 medley B‑relay and the 200 freestyle A‑relay which were both disqualified for false starts, but both of the relay counterparts performed well. The 200 medley A‑relay, which included sophomore Leah Tunney, junior Taylor Boyle, and senior Emma Rao and Katherine Heeres, finished first in 1:52.03. The 200 freestyle B‑Relay included freshman Caroline Holmes, S. Clark, sophomore Anika Fassett, and A. Clark who finished second in 1:47.59.
Tunney had an exceptional meet, finishing first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.03. Freshman Sarah Pataniczek followed behind with a third place time of 2:03.15. Tunney also won the 100 backstroke in a minute flat (1:00.05) with a close third place finish from Holmes (1:01.22). She went on to win G‑MAC Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week.
Head coach Kirner was pleased with his team’s performance. He said he wanted to get some good competition for the team and focus and concentrate on certain events.
“I think that we had some close races and they finished off those races well,” Kirner said. “There were a couple injuries so that was a battle. Some people we normally depend upon were not able to step up so others had to step up in their place.”
The status of next weekend’s meet is currently undecided as renovations for the host team’s facility have been delayed. Kirner said that news of the status will be released soon and he has a back-up meet planned in case the original one is canceled.
