The Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team traveled to Grand Rapids on Saturday for its final tune-up event before the G-MAC/MEC Championships begin in February.
While the Chargers were unable to get the better of host Davenport, falling to the Panthers 181 to 105 in a dual, Hillsdale did beat Aquinas 196 to 72 and captured four first-place finishes in the meet.
Junior Megan Clifford led the way by winning both butterfly events, taking first in the 100 butterfly in 57.94, and leading a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:06.59. Freshmen Callie Lucero and Inez McNichols finished second (2:12.81) and third (2:17.59) respectively for the Chargers behind Clifford in the 200 fly.
Clifford also swam the anchor leg on both of Hillsdale's runner-up relays, teaming with seniors Caroline Holmes and Sarah Pataniczek and junior Emmalyse Dickhudt in the 200 medley relay (1:50.38) and juniors Elise Mason and Lucia Ruchti and freshman Alyson Early in the 200 freestyle relay (1:41.15).
Dickhudt also was an event winner for the Chargers, claiming the title in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.50, while Mason took home the crown in the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:15.13, just ahead of teammate and freshman Isabel Ondracek in third with a time of 5:19.28.
Ondracek also took second (1:59.45) and Mason third (1:59.92) for the Chargers in another close finish in the 200 freestyle.
Holmes, a senior, earned top three finishes in three individual events to go along with her work in the relay, taking second in both the 100 backstroke (1:01.10) and 200 IM (2:14.29) for the Chargers, as well as third in the 100 freestyle (55.79).
Early earned a runner-up finsh in the 1,000 freestyle for the Chargers, finishing in 11:20.28, while Pataniczek took third in the 200 backstroke (2:15.35) and freshman Lauren Kamp took third in the 200 breaststroke (2:32.52) as well for Hillsdale.
The Chargers now turn their focus to the G-MAC/MEC Championships, scheduled to begin on Feb. 14 in Canton, Ohio. Hillsdale will battle Findlay, the defending champions, for the team title, while also looking to win as many individual crowns and make as many B-cut times as possible for the national championship meet in March. The Chargers and Oilers have been the top two finishers in the G-MAC/MEC Championships in every meet since the two teams joined the conference for the 2017-18 season, with Hillsdale winning three times in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Photo by Scott Galvin