Kaia Anderson

The women’s swim and dive season came to a close this past weekend at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (MIACs). This competition began on Wednesday, Feb. 11, and ended on Saturday, the 14th. MIACs is the final competition for the section that Augsburg competes in. While Augsburg may have placed 9th with only 41 points, all four swimmers scored personal bests in nearly every event they swam. 

Kaia Anderson competed in three individual events: the 200 freestyle, the 100 backstroke, and the 100 freestyle. Her most dramatic drop occurred in the 200 freestyle event, where she dropped 11 seconds from her previous best of 2:44.91, landing her with a 2:33.83. In her backstroke event, she swam a 1:21.99-two seconds faster overall. In her final event, which she competed in on Saturday, she surpassed her goal time of 1:13 and instead made a 1:10.45 in the 100 freestyle.

Amanda Cruz, who only joined the team approximately three weeks before MIACs began, swam in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, and 200-yard breaststroke. Her 50 freestyle was seven seconds faster, resulting in a time of 28.03. Cruz’s 100 breaststroke, her main event, was swum in 1:17.10-six seconds faster than her previous best. She was also able to drop 18 seconds in her 200 breaststroke event (2:46.95).  

Danielle Hobbs, the distance swimmer of the team, swam the 1,650-yard freestyle, also known as the mile, the 500, and the 200 freestyle events. Her mile time of 20:20.95, a 1:03 improvement, gives her the 10th fastest mile time in Augsburg history. This was a tight race, with her placing second in her heat, barely 2 seconds behind the swimmer from St. Kate. Hobbs also dropped 10 seconds in the 500 freestyle (5:54.24) and eight seconds in the 200 freestyle (2:12.56). When asked about her experience on the swim team, Hobbs said, “I really enjoyed the swim season as a whole. It was both fun and challenging, and it pushed me to grow as both an athlete and a teammate.”

Allison Gray was only able to swim in two events—the 200-yard medley relay (2:16.53) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:57.84) with Anderson, Cruz, and Hobbs. Gray swam no individual events due to a hip injury. The team was able to drop three seconds in the medley and eight seconds in the free relay. 

Katie Brown, Augsburg’s singular diver, competed in both the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events. She scored 257.90 in the 1-meter on Thursday and finished with 255.10 in the 3-meter on Saturday. 

Coach Zach Wood had this to say when asked about MIACs: “Our season finished with a lot of smiles, confidence, best times, and high scores. At MIACs, every athlete gave it their all in each relay or dive, and the great results reflected the work and dedication they put into the season that started way back in September.” 

Congratulations to the Auggie swim team on a very successful season!