Hillsdale College’s women’s swim team added two victories to its season record Oct. 24, defeating Bethel University 121-100 and Anderson University 169-27 at the Elkhart Aquatic Center in Elkhart, Indiana.
The wins bring the Chargers to 5-1 this fall season. Hillsdale will have a week off before returning to competition.
“A big thing about this past weekend is that we were getting our athletes into new or different events,” assistant coach Maggie Kayt Franks said in an email. “When focusing on conference in February, we are trying to figure out where each athlete can benefit the team best, and sometimes that means trying completely new events in the early season.”
Sophomore Avery May led the Chargers individually, finishing first in three of her events. She won the 400-yard individual medley in 4:41.91 before taking the 500-yard freestyle in 5:18.04. Fellow sophomore Rylee Harris took second in 5:25.36.
“I was really excited about the 400 IM because I haven’t been able to swim that yet this season with the way the lineup has worked out,” May said. “I hadn’t swam the 500 free[style] this season either. On the one hand, it’s fun to do something that you haven’t done yet all season, just because it’s different, but then it does make me a little bit nervous, especially with strategy events like the 400 IM, just making sure I really remember how to swim it.”
May also swam the opening leg of Hillsdale’s winning 400-yard freestyle relay alongside Harris, freshman Cali Kissel, and senior Alyson Early. The team finished in 3:46.09.
“Coach [Kirner] is still really focusing in on turns,” May said. “That was something he pointed out specifically for me was working on my turns, my underwaters. Another big thing is just making sure that we’re all staying healthy right now. Prioritizing sleep and recovery as we get closer to mid-season is going to be a big factor.”
Junior Ella Schafer earned two individual victories. She finished the 50-yard freestyle in 25.51 and the 100-yard freestyle in 55.53. Schafer also competed in Hillsdale’s 400-yard medley relay, which finished second in 4:09.97.
“This weekend, I was in all sprinting events which was a little unusual but exciting,” Schafer said. “It allowed me to put some of the fast twitch reflex and other technical details I had been working on to the test. My speed through my start and breakout was faster than it had been in past meets, and I managed to do my 50 freestyle without a breath. Those were my two main goals.”
Senior Isabel Ondracek took first place in the 1,650-yard freestyle, completing the race in 18:37.11. Senior teammate Irene Del Castro finished third with a time of 19:30.59.
Junior Ella Malone finished second in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Harris took second in the 200-yard freestyle, while Early finished second in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 200-yard freestyle.
“In practice, we’ve been ramping up the yardage and intensity in and out of the water,” sophomore Kate Potwardowski said. “I think that really showed at this last meet and means that the effort we’re continuing to put in is only building on itself and will pay off well when we get to our mid-season meet in late November.”
The Chargers will return to the pool Nov. 7, when they travel to Romeoville, Illinois, for a meet hosted by Lewis University.
“We are particularly working towards the Don Kimble Mid-Season meet [Nov. 20-22],” Franks said. “It will be an exciting, new test for our freshmen to experience a ‘conference-like’ meet, and definitely hoping for some top times for every athlete.”
