The Saginaw Valley State University women’s swimming & diving team competed against Alma College and Calvin College at the Gerstacker Regional Aquatic Center on Saturday (11/1). The Cardinals defeated the Scots by a score of 174-125 and the Knights by a final tally of 149-148 to remain unbeaten in the program’s inaugural season.
The meet against Calvin was back-and-fourth that came down to the final relay. The 400 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Tyara Green, Chelsea Harmon, Melanie Soenksen, and Breanne Bell finished with a time of 3:45.58 which was good for first place in the event and gave the Cardinals a one point victory over Calvin.
The Cardinals posted victories in the 1000 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Breaststroke, 200 Yard Butterfly, 50 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Backstroke, 500 Yard Freestyle, and the 200 Yard IM.
The 400 Yard Medley Relay team was victorious to get things rolling for the Lady Cards. The team of Shaked Bachar, Carley Buechner, Rebeca Martinez, and Green finished the event with a time of 4:08.03.
Martinez was dominant again in the 100 Yard Backstroke as she posted her third victory in the event this year with a time of 1:00.19. Martinez claimed the top spot in the 200 Yard Backstroke (2:07.76) and the 200 Yard IM (2:12.00) as well.
Buechner finished first in the 100 Yard Breaststroke as she swam to a time of 1:10.04. She also competed in the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:34.71) and the 200 Yard IM (2:28.68).
Bachar swam to a first place finish in the 1000 Yard Freestyle as she posted a time of 11:09.40. She posted two more victories in the 200 Yard Butterfly (2:18.62) and the 500 Yard Freestyle (5:30.88) to finish her afternoon.
Green claimed the top spot for the Cardinals in the 50 Yard Freestyle with a finishing time of 24.99. She competed in the 100 Yard Butterfly (1:05.26) as well.
Kathleen Murphy took first in the women’s three meter diving event with a score of 237.65. Wilhelmina Francisco and Erica Wysocki dove in the event and finished 5th and 6th, respectively. Francisco (222.80), Wysocki (216.60), and Murphy (165.70) competed in the women’s one meter diving event for SVSU as well.
“I am so proud of our girls! We faced our toughest test of the season today competing against two very strong Division 3 teams that outnumbered us 3-1,” said SVSU Head Coach Bruce Zimmerman. “We knew we needed to perform as an entire team in order to give us a chance to win both meets and the girls stepped up and performed unbelievably well. The wins today were a total team effort. We raced and dove tough and did what we had to do to come out on top. The team took a huge step forward as we continue to work toward the conference and NCAA championships.”
The Cardinals return to action next Saturday (11/8) at Northern Michigan University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11:00 am.
College Swimming News courtesy of Saginaw Valley State University Swimming and Diving.