The Hillsdale College women’s swim team started its season with a 150-129 win against Albion College at home in Jack McAvoy Natatorium on Oct 9.
The meet confirmed the team’s strength, with upper and underclassman alike showing potential for the rest of the season.
The Chargers blew the Britons away, particularly in the sprinting events, clinching the top three spots in the 200-yard freestyle, 50-yard breaststroke, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard breaststroke.
“We have regained a lot of quality depth that we have been short of the last two years,” head coach Kurt Kirner said. “All of our freshmen are versatile and talented enough to make us a much deeper squad.”
The freshman class is proving to be a solid asset, with Anika Ellingson standing out in the 50 breaststroke and the 100 breaststroke. Ellingson won both events, with a time of 31.18 seconds in the 50 and 1:07.55 in the 100.
“Anika Ellingson has a real competitive breaststroke. If she works hard over the season she should be a serious contender at the end of the season,” Kirner said.
Freshman Erla Sigurjonsdottir was also victorious, winning the 50 freestyle in 26.01 seconds, and placing second in the 100-yard individual medley.
Junior Emily Shallman added a significant amount of points to the Chargers’ total, winning three events: the 100 IM in 1:03.01, the 50-yard butterfly in 27.07 seconds, and the 100 freestyle in 56.05 seconds. Her three wins for the night crowned her highest-scoring duel meet of her career thus far.
“My mentality going forward is just to have fun and enjoy swimming,” Shallman said. “I swim the fastest when I’m relaxed and having a good time. This year I’m not going to put pressure on myself to go certain times. I’m just excited to race and to see what our team can accomplish this season.”
Senior captain Zoe Hopkins won both the 200 freestyle in 1:58.33 and the 500 freestyle in 5:17.69. She dominated especially in the 500 free, winning the race 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Hopkins said she was pleased with her team’s winning performance.
“It gets old diving into a cold pool at 6 a.m. multiple times a week, but that is the last thing I think about when I see our team succeed,” Hopkins said. “When we win, it helps get some momentum for the team going into other meets. We all get pumped and excited for more racing, and it helps push us through training.”
Senior Jennifer Wheeler brought in a win for the Chargers in the 100 butterfly and also placed third in the 200 freestyle.
The Chargers will use their newfound momentum tomorrow as they swim against Calvin College and Grand Valley State University at 5 p.m. in Grand Rapids.
