Sophomore Elise Mason burst onto the G-MAC swimming scene in 2022 by winning three individual titles at last season's G-MAC/MEC Championships.
In the 2023 edition in Canton, Ohio, she's two-thirds of the way to defending all three crowns.
Mason added the 500 yd freestyle title to the 1,000 freestyle title she won on an earlier day on Thursday night, winning in 5:03.07, more than eight full seconds in front of her closest competitor, and also achieving a NCAA B-cut time in the event. Teammates Sarah Pataniczek, Sarah Clark and Amy Mills took 13th (5:19.18), 14th (5:24.49) and 16th (5:30.50) as well for the Chargers in the event.
While Mason won the only title for the Chargers on Thursday night, Hillsdale also got a strong swim from sophomore Megan Clifford, who took third in the 200 butterfly in 2:04.02, just two-tenths of a second off of Hillsdale's program record in the event and a personal best time, as well as a NCAA B-cut. Joanna Burnham finished fifth in the 200 fly (2:12.38) for the Chargers, Anika Fassett took sixth (2:14.13), Madison Pyhel finished eighth (2:14.65), Sarah Clark placed 11th (2:19.95) and Phoebe Johnston finished 14th (2:22.65) as well.
The Chargers also placed second in the 800 freestyle relay, finishing in 7:41.71 with a team of Mason, Caroline Holmes, Leah Tunney and Clifford.
Holmes also placed third (58.27) and Tunney fourth (58.45) in the 100 backstroke for the Chargers, with Sydney Slepian taking eighth (1:00.72) and Julianna Weir 15th (1:02.70) as well. Emmalyse Dickhudt, meanwhile, led the Chargers with a fifth-place finish in the 100 breastroke, in 1:06.42, with Hannah Douthitt placing ninth (1:08.88) as well.
Hillsdale sits in second in the team standings heading into the final day of competition on Friday with 1,203.5 points, trailing Findlay's 1,378, but comfortably ahead of third-place Ashland's total of 702.5. The G-MAC/MEC Championships will wrap up tomorrow with prelims at 10 a.m. and a finals session at 6 p.m.
Photo by Edward Smith