The Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team kicked off the season with a strong showing against Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday, beating the Wildcats 125-78.
Junior Marie Taylor won three events to help lead the Chargers to victory as a team, and her performance was recognized by the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with the first G-MAC Women's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week award, the conference office announced on Thursday afternoon.
It's the second Athlete of the Week honor in Taylor's career and the latest accolade for the junior from Austin, Texas, who's earned first-team All-G-MAC honors in four events over the last two seasons.
Taylor dominated both events she competed in individually on Saturday, winning the 100-yard freestyle by nearly three seconds in a time of 54.76, and also taking first in the 50 freestyle by a significant margin in 25.15.
The junior also swam the anchor leg on the 200 medley relay for the Chargers, helping Hillsdale beat Indiana Wesleyan's top team by two and a half seconds and win the event as well in 1:52.94.
Taylor is one of several excellent swimmers for the Chargers as Hillsdale looks to win a third-straight G-MAC/MEC crown. The Chargers next get a look at their conference competition as Malone hosts the G-MAC/MEC Relays on Oct. 16.