The Chargers finished fourth out of six teams that competed in the invitational meet at Davenport University Nov. 19 through 21.
The team as a whole performed well at the meet. In the 200 yard freestyle relay, the A team, made up of juniors Marie Taylor, Leah Tunney, Sydney Slepian, and sophomore Caroline Holmes finished fifth (1:38.10). The B and C teams came twelfth (1:42.80) and fourteenth (1:45.52). In the 400 yard medley relay, the Chargers took sixth (3:55.91), ninth (4:00.40), and thirteenth (4:09.85).
In the 800 yard freestyle relay, in which each of the four swimmers races 200 yards, the Chargers came in second and ninth at 7:42.52 and 8:04.48.
The 200 yard medley relay saw Hillsdale in seventh (1:48.40), tenth (1:50.29), and twelfth (1:55.54). The last swimming event of the meet was the 400 yard freestyle relay, in which the Chargers placed eighth (3:38.73) and twelfth (3:47.76).
Many individual swimmers had some excellent swims, earning personal best times, school records, and even NCAA cut times.
“This was our first prelims-finals meet this season and I definitely had to embrace the challenge,” Sophomore Caroline Holmes said. “We had some outstanding swims, especially from some of our freshmen.”
Freshman Elise Mason won the 1650 yard freestyle with a 17:17.45 which broke Hillsdale’s school record in the event and earned her an NCAA B cut. The second place finisher swam a 17:49.34 which was 31.89 seconds behind Mason.
Freshman Megan Clifford won the 200 yard fly with a 2:05.76. Senior Anna Clark came in eighth (2:14.03), junior Anika Fassett came eleventh (2:16.95), senior Stefanie Walker came in sixteenth (2:22.20), and sophomore Phoebe Johnston-Hoffman finished seventeenth (2:24.47).
Holmes placed seventh (1:55.16) and junior Marie Taylor placed eleventh (1:56.13) in the 200 yard freestyle.
The 100 yard breaststroke saw Charger swimmers in 10, 11, and 12. Freshmen Joanna Burnham and Emma Dickhudt finished tenth and eleventh in 1:07.50 and 1:0.68 respectively. Sophomore Cecilia Guadalupi finished twelfth in 1:07.78.
In the 100 yard backstroke, junior Leah Tunney finished third (57.97), Holmes finished sixth (58.49), and junior Sydney Slepian finished sixteenth (1:01.24).
The Chargers dominated the 400 yard I.M. with Burnham and Mason in second (4:36.95) and third (4:37.14), Guadalupi in fifth (4:41.58), Clifford in sixth (4:45.40), and sophomore Amy Mills in ninth (4:47.35).
Marie Taylor, who was the G-MAC athlete of the week last week for the second time this season, made NCAA B cuts in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events.
“I always like to have other teams and teammates push me to be better,” Taylor said. “ But I’ve also really kind of changed my mindset to the point where I do that to myself when I’m racing.”
She finished second in the 50 with a 23.74 and first in the 100 at 51.49.
In the 500 yard free, Tunney and Mason went first and second, finishing at a close 5:07.07 and 5:07.10 respectively.
Tunney, Holmes, and Slepian raced the 200 yard backstroke, earning spots in fourth (2:06.16), eighth (2:09.23), and thirteenth (2:15.54).
Clifford finished fifth in the 100 yard fly with a 57.77. Senior Anna Clark came eleventh (59.64).
Burnham, Dickhudt, and Boyle represented Hillsdale in the 200 yard breaststroke in seventh (2:27.64), eighth (2:28.09), and sixteenth (2:39.87).
In the 200 yard I.M Burnham finished third (2:10.41), Clifford seventh (2:12.29), Holmes eighth (2:13.10), and Dickhudt twelfth (2:13.88).
The team looks forward to the second half of the season and the build up to G-MACs.
“We saw Davenport and Saginaw Valley and we’ll be swimming them in January so it’s nice to scope out the competition and see where they’re at,” Holmes said.
The team will head to Florida for a training trip at the end of December. Their first meet in the spring will be Jan. 15 against Saginaw Valley State University and Ashland University.
