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.

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.).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.