The Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team fell short of bringing home a fourth straight G-MAC/MEC crown at the 2023 G-MAC/MEC Championships this weekend, but the Chargers put up an impressive fight nonetheless.
Hillsdale finished second to Findlay in the final standings with a point total of 1,589, well ahead of third-place Ashland's 886.5 to earn runner-up honors.
The Chargers had a solid final day of events at the four-day meet in Canton, Ohio, led by sophomore Elise Mason, who continues to set the pace for the two conferences in the distance races after another clean sweep in 2023.
Mason won the 1,650 freestyle in 17:17.68, a B-cut time and nearly 30 seconds ahead of the next closest finisher, to repeat as individual champion in the event. Earlier in the meet, Mason also defended her 2022 titles in the 500 freestyle and 1,000 freestyle, giving her the distance trifecta for a second straight year. Mason has never lost an individual distance race in either G-MAC/MEC Championship meets she's competed in.
Teammate Sarah Clark finished 10th in 18:19.84, and Madison Pyhel took 14th in 19:01.85 as well for the Chargers.
In other individual events on Friday, the Chargers had two competitors in the top four in the 200 breaststroke, with sophomore Joanna Burnham taking third in 2:25.07, and Emmalyse Dickhudt placing fourth in 2:26.40. Freshman Rotem Andegeko placed 13th (2:34.96) as well for the Chargers.
Hillsdale also had strong finshes in the 200 backstroke. Senior Leah Tunney took third in 2:05.67 to lead the Chargers, with junior Caroline Holmes close behind in fifth in 2:09.09, and junior Amy Mills in seventh in 2:12.54. Sophomore Lily Golladay placed 11th in 2:15.14 and senior Sydney Slepian took 14th in 2:16.83 as well.
Sophomore Megan Clifford led the Chargers in the 100 freestyle with a sixth place finish in 52.98. Senior Marie Taylor took ninth as well, in 53.33, while freshman Julianna Weir tied for 10th in 54.15 and Golladay finished 12th in 54.20.
In the final event of the meet, Hillsdale's team of Taylor, Weir, Holmes and Clifford placed second in the 400 freestyle relay, in a time of 3:31.13.
At the conclusion of the meet, Hillsdale received one final honor to take home, as head coach Kurt Kirner was named the G-MAC Coach of the Year for the fifth-straight season, continuing a streak that began in the 2018-19 campaign.
While the team portion of Hillsdale's season is over with the conclusion of the G-MAC/MEC Championships, the season isn't done yet, as the Chargers now wait to see which of their swimmers will earn the right to compete at the NCAA DII Championships, hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 8-11. Mason, who competed in all three distance events at the national meet last year, is a likely qualifier, while Megan Clifford, Marie Taylor and Joanna Burnham have all achieved B-cut times this season and will be under consideration to be a part of the field.
The qualifiers for the NCAA DII Championships will be announced on NCAA.com at 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
Photo by Edward Smith