
Lauren Rotundo
NMU Athletic Communication Intern
MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Northern Michigan University Women's Swim and Dive team defeated Grand Valley State University and Saginaw Valley State University, beating SVSU 200-95, and getting a 174.50-122.50 win over GVSU.
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STARTING STRONG |
The Wildcats took the 200-yard medley relay, the first event of the meet, with a time of 1:46.61 and a team of senior Regan Kilburn (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine), junior Rachel Helm (Newcastle, England/Burnside College), junior Madelyn Irelan (Owosso, Mich.), and sophomore Margaret Vaitkus (Munster, Ind.).
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QUICK TO SUCCESS |
Sophomore Gabriella Spajic (Sydney, Australia/De La Salle Catholic College Cronulla) started off the meet with an NCAA Nationals "B" Cut in the 1,000-yard freestyle, her first event of the meet. Spajic swam a 10:23.36, which surpassed the "B" cut time of 10:27.56. Spajic went on to take her next two individual events; the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:08.65 and the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:05.80.
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TAKING TWO |
Sophomore Lena Soulas (London, England/Woodhouse College) took two of her individual events. Her first win came from the 200-yard freestyle, where she touched at 1:53.79. She then went on to swim the 100-yard freestyle and won with a time of 52.62.
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TOUCHING FIRST |
The Wildcats took four more races from four more athletes. The first to take a win was Kilburn, who won the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 58.14. Senior Dana Stroven (Howell, Mich./Hartland) went on to take the very next race, the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:06.03. Savanna Saunders (Manchester, England/Bridgewater) touched first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:05.86, and Helm won the 100-yard butterfly at 56.57.
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DIVING SUCCESS |
On the other end of the pool, the divers took both events, with junior Jamie Kimble (Prior Lake, Minn.) winning the 1-meter dive with a score of 254.25, and freshman Mary Grossman (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) took the 3-meter with 247.55, while Kimble followed in second place with 244.85 points.
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UP NEXT |
The Wildcats will be on the road for their next meet, going to Stevens Point, Wisconsin to swim against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday, November 10.