Senior Rotem Andegeko swimming the 200 breast at the Senior Day meet Nov. 8
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale women’s swim team placed second out of eight teams at its midseason meet at the Don Kimble Invitational in Kentwood, Michigan, Nov. 21-23.
Freshman Avery May was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Week and the Chargers scored 640 total points, coming home with one gold, seven silver, and four bronze places.
May placed second in the 500 freestyle in 5.02.87, a season best and Division II B-cut, and second in the 400 individual medley in a personal best 4.29.30. She also swam in the 400 freestyle relay, with the women placing first with a time of 3.29.34 and setting a school record, and anchored in the 800 freestyle relay team, helping the team finish in second at 7.42.28.
“The moment I was most proud of was the 500 free at finals,” May said. “I had a hard day and didn’t have much time to recover in between sessions. I was so happy that I was able to push through and swim a race I could be proud of. I feel like the team, myself included, has made progress in mental toughness.”
Other impressive swims from the team included freshman Sasha Babenko’s second place finish in the 200 individual medley race in 2.08.90, junior Inez McNichols’ second place finish in the 200 butterfly in 2.10.89, and sophomore Ella Schafer’s second place finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1.52.81.
Head coach Kurt Kirner said the meet went exceptionally well.
“It was an outstanding meet. We broke some team records, which is always above and beyond for a midseason meet, and also had some NCAA B cuts. Sasha Babenko being part of two record breaking relays and breaking the team record in the 100 and 200 backstroke and Avery May getting her 500 freestyle B cut and swimming the second fastest 400 IM in GMAC history.”
Assistant coach Madeline London said she was pleased with the results from the meet.
“This performance exceeded our expectations,” London said. “We always want to achieve lifetime best times at meets like this. We gained 17 lifetime bests in addition to two NCAA B cuts and four school records. Coach and I have seen immense progress in the team’s underwaters as a whole, in addition to details in their race finishes. It’s been good to see, but like I said, there’s always more progress to make.”
Over Christmas break, the Chargers will travel to Florida for winter training. They will continue the season next semester, starting with a tri meet against Saginaw Valley State University and Ashland University in Saginaw, Michigan, Jan. 10.
