Women’s Swim & Dive Set PEIF Pool Record on Saturday

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - The men’s and women’s swim & dive squads competed against the Michigan Tech Club on Saturday afternoon in the PEIF Pool. A pool record was broken for the 200-yard Freestyle Relay by Michaela Nelson, Donna Hannig, Pilar Perello-Ferrer, and Olivia Haerr with a time of 1:34.96. In the Skins contest, a series of knockout races where two people are removed every round until there are two who battle it out for the championship, Olivia Haerr and Michaela Nelson went head-to-head, leading Nelson to victory. As for the men’s team, Will LaCount and Leo Nolles were the final contenders, in which Nolles was declared the champion.

The 100-yard IM started off the meet, where NMU took places one through twenty for the women, and one through twenty-six of the men. Nelson, Jenna Joerger, and Zoe DeKievit claimed the top three spots with their times falling before the 1:01.30 mark. LaCount, Nolles, and Daniel Lopez-Aponte also placed the highest. LaCount found himself dropping 8.07 from his seed time Both teams had Group A claiming first for the 200-yard Medley Relay. Camilla Carbone, DeKievit, Txell Font-Cantarero, and Haerr came out of the water at 1:46.39 while Thibault Auger, Andrew Tease, Ryan Lund, and Nolles finished with a time of 1:37.88.

Abbie Harned, Lauren Plockmeyer, and Izzy McCabe were the top finishers for the 1-meter dive, with scores ranging from 188.38 to 234.59. Tobie Stiles and Logan Boynton competed for the men, earning scores of 242.32 and 155.25, respectively. The 200-yard Freestyle had the Wildcats claiming places one through seven, with Nadia Helm, Donna Hannig, and Emilia Morris taking the top three. Daniel Khmara, Caleb Rice, and Max Swiatkowski also claimed placements one through three, with Swiatkowski dropping .34 from his time. Mia Strazny and Lauren Melendez-Rivero earned first and second place with their times of 27.91 and 30.18 for the 50-yard Backstroke. Auger, Ian Rocheleau, and Kyle Griswold added 16 points to their score after coming in first through third. More drops were made in the 50-yard Breaststroke by third-placer Jillian McKinley and first-place finisher, William LaCount. McKinley dropped .68 from her seed time and LaCount dropped 1.35. Font-Cantarero and Lund placed first in the 100-yard Butterfly with Joerger and Lowery following right behind.

As for the 50-yard Freestyle, Nelson and Nolles were the champions with their times of 24.19 and 20.73. Heading back to the diving board, we saw Harned and Stiles take first place once again with scores of 224.99 and 242.02. Close behind them was McCabe and Boynton who each tacked on four points to the nine that Harned and Stiles acquired. The 100-yard Freestyle had the women Wildcats taking the top six places, with Helm, Perello-Ferrer, and Hannig in the lead. LaCount, Khmara, and Dean Ramsbottom were the top three for the men, earning their team 16 points. Carbone, Sill, and Strazny were very notable in the 100-yard Backstroke where they came in before the one minute mark. Auger, Rocheleau, and Kapocius had the same accomplishment while adding 16 points to the scoreboard.

The 100-yard Breaststroke had DeKievit taking first followed by Nelson and DeCarlo. Nelson was able to drop her time by 1.76 from her seed time of 1:08.90. Tease, Callewaert, and Lopez-Aponte took the first three places for the men’s team. Event 25 and 26 were dedicated to the 500-yard Freestyle where Font-Cantarero, Caitlin Aarseth, and Vanessa Steigauf claimed first through third while Robillard, Pullinen, and Lowery did the same.

The men took the top five places for the 50-yard Butterfly with Lund, Stolberg, and Wolmarans leading them. McKinley, Melendez-Rivero, and Maria Arakelian earned the top three spots for the women, coming in before the 30 second mark. To cap off the meet was the 200-yard Freestyle Relay with both teams’ Group A, B, and C taking the top three spots and earning a combined thirty points to their final score.

The Wildcats now prepare for the GLIAC Championships from February 15-18 in Holland, Michigan at the Holland Aquatic Center. NMU will compete with conference foes Augustana, Davenport, Grand Valley State, Saginaw Valley State, St. Cloud State, and Wayne State. Last season, the women were crowned GLIAC Champions while the men finished runner-up.