Swim and Dive concluded their season with the MIAC conference meet last week. Concordia, St. Mary’s and St. Kate’s played host to the meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The meet spanned from Thursday to Saturday with Auggies swimming all three days. The team finished eleventh at the meet.
On day one, three athletes competed in the 50-yard freestyle. First-year Morgan Mangel swam a time of 25.35 beating her seed time; Mangel also set a new school record in the event. Carli Kirchoff and Lindsey Luke also competed in the 50 free with times of 26.8 and 27.22, respectively. Both swimmers swam faster than their seed times, meaning the Auggies were peaking at the right time of the season. Kirchoff, in fact, beat her seed time by nearly a full second.
The action continued Friday with Kirchoff and Autumn Francois competing as individuals in the 100-yard backstroke. Kirchoff finished in 1:05.61 and Francois followed with a 1:08.17. Both these swimmers competed on the 200-yard medley relay; the team of Francois, Mangel, Luke, and Kirchoff crushed their seed time by two seconds to swim a 2:02.13. This was not the only relay in action, as Amanda Pedersen, Kirchoff, Luke, and Mangel completed the 800-yard freestyle relay in 8:53.18.
The busy weekend for the team was not over, however, as two individuals and one more relay swam on the third and final day of the conference meet. Mangel continued to freestyle her way through the meet placing fourteenth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.21. Luke also competed in the event recording a 59.37. The action concluded with Pedersen, Kirchoff, Luke and Mangel finished tenth in the 400-yard freestyle in 3:54.99 — crushing their seed time by a full ten seconds.
The Tommies took home the team title at the meet. This makes three in a row for UST.
This article first appeared in the Friday, February 23, 2018, Edition of The Echo.