Charger swim faced their most difficult competition of the season this past weekend at an invitational meet hosted by Butler University. Three of the five teams competing at the meet were Division I teams, but Hillsdale swimmers held their own and pulled out some impressive performances.
“This past weekend was a hard meet but it gave us the opportunity to race some good competition and see where we stand going into conferences,” freshman Megan Clifford said.
Hillsdale placed eighth and tenth in the 200 yard medley relay, coming in at 1:51.53 and 1:52.40 respectively.
In the 1650 yard freestyle, junior Sarah Clark finished fifth (18:34.95) and senior Anna Clark finished ninth 19:06.15.
Four Charger swimmers placed in the 200 yard freestyle. Sophomore Caroline Holmes was fifth (1:57.07), junior Leah Tunney was a close sixth (1:57.44), sophomore Sarah Pataniczek finished twelfth (2:00.23), and freshman Elise Mason came in fourteenth (2:00.99).
Senior Carissa Henderson just out-touched teammate freshman Lily Golladay in the 100 yard backstroke. They finished thirteenth (1:02.00) and fourteenth (1:02.92), respectively.
The 100 yard breaststroke had even closer margins. Freshman Emma Dickhudt came eleventh with a 1:10.66 and junior Hannah Douthitt came twelfth at 1:10.67. Freshman Joanna Burnham also came seventeenth with a 1:13.93.
Clifford had an impressive second place finish in the 200 yard butterfly (2:07.78), which she will swim again at conference. Senior Anna Clark finished eighth (2:19.66), junior Anika Fassett was ninth (2:20.95), and sophomore Phoebe Johnston came in tenth (2:25.68).
Hillsdale’s top sprinter, junior Marie Taylor, finished seventh in the 50 yard freestyle at 24.70. Seniors Henderson, Becca Briskey, and Taylor Boyle, also competed in the 50, finishing thirteenth (25.80), seventeenth (26.26), and twenty-second (26.79), respectively.
The 100 yard freestyle saw Golladay, Clifford, Taylor, and junior Sydney Slepian in ninth (55.12), tenth (55.33), twelfth (55.78), and eighteenth (58.03).
Holmes finished fourth in the 200 yard backstroke at 2:10.47. Junior Leah Tunney was 10th (2:14.00), sophomore Amy Mills was 13th (2:18.08), and Henderson was 14th (2:18.31).
Pataniczek swam an impressive 5:22.72 in the 500 yard freestyle which earned her third place. Mills and Fassett came seventh (5:41.48) and eighth (5:44.72).
Pataniczek also finished 12th in the 100 yard butterfly (1:01.28), followed closely by Anna Clark in 14th (1:01.96). Senior Stefanie Walker came in 16th (1:03.00).
“The team as a whole did really well. This time of the season can be really hard. It’s the last difficult stretch before taper and we are all really tired,” Pataniczek said. “I was pretty happy with how the races went mentally too, which is important as we are now moving into the conference championship in a few weeks.
The team has about two weeks to rest and prepare for the conference championships which begin Feb. 16 and run through Feb. 19.
“It’s taper time– rest, recovery, and most of all, mindset work,” Head Coach Kurt Kirner said. “We’re looking to be the best mentally prepared team going into the championships. Findlay is as strong as we are on paper due to the lack of depth from other teams in the conference. It should be quite a battle. Championships are 1% perspiration and 99% inspiration.”
The athletes are looking forward to the end of the season as well.
“I am so excited to experience the environment that swimming in a college championship brings, especially since we are in the running for conference champions,” Clifford said. “There will be a lot of fast swimming and time drops coming from the team at conferences, and I am so excited to see all our hard work pay off.”