St. Cloud State
NSIC Championship
Championship performances highlight day two of NSIC meet
2/11/2021 9:45:00 PM | Women's Swim & Dive
| Individual Results | Combined Results | Day Three Prelim Heat Sheets |
FARGO, N.D. - It may have seemed like the St. Cloud State University women's swim and dive team got off to a "slow" start on day one of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Swim and Dive Championships. After the opening day, the Huskies sat in third place as a team, with 148.50 points to their name thanks to outstanding performances in the pool.
On Thursday, St. Cloud State took it to the next level. Thanks to two championship performances, one in the pool and one on the boards, the Huskies surged into second place on the second day of the NSIC Swim and Dive Championships, concluding the day with 424.5 total points.
St. Cloud State's strongest event of the day came on the diving board, as five of the top six spots belonged to the Huskies in the 1-meter diving competition, including first place. Senior diver Madison Brinkman (Grey Eagle, Minn. / Melrose) repeated as the conference's champion in the event, defending her title with a NCAA qualifying score of 430.40. Right behind her in second place was none other than St. Cloud native Meredith Matchinsky (St. Cloud, Minn. / Tech), who earned All-Conference honors thanks to her NCAA qualifying score of 426.90.
Minnesota State's Ayla Taylor broke up St. Cloud State's hopes to sweep the podium with a third place finish, but Alyssa Doherty (Cudahy, Wis. / Whitnall), Annaliesa Anderson (West Bend, Wis.) and Taylor Terfher rounded out the top-6 for the Huskies, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Doherty took fourth behind a score of 416.85, Anderson fifth at 392.40, while Terfher finished sixth with a score of 370.40.
The Huskies also saw plenty of success in the pool, as they recorded top-16 finishes in every race that took place. The biggest highlight of the night may have been St. Cloud State's win in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The Huskies team of Alaina Friske (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley), Sarah Moden (Parker, Colo. / Legend), Sydney Gulon (Detroit Lakes, Minn. / Detroit Lakes) and Kasey Milstroh (Foley, Minn. / Foley) were crowned conference champions after finishing the race in 1:35.30, .7 second ahead of the second place team from the University of Sioux Falls. St. Cloud State's "B" team of Ashton Hobza (Albertville, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville), Olivia Travis (Dassel, Minn. / Dassel-Cokato), Rosie Pang (Shah Alam, Malaysia / Sri Kuala Lumpur International School) and Christina Ware (Ankeny, Iowa / Centennial) also clocked a top-8 performance, finishing in sixth with a time of 1:38.37.
Milstroh additionally earned All-NSIC honors in the 100 yard butterfly race, as she took third behind a time of 56.75. Her teammates Moden and Travis additionally clocked top-16 performances, as Moden finished in 14th with a time of 59.05 and Travis 15th thanks to a time of 59.28.
Three Huskies scored in the 400 Individual Medley (IM), led by Andrea Rodriguez (Ankey, Iowa). The sophomore finished in sixth place thanks to her time of 4:38.61. Ping just missed a top-8 finish, as she came in ninth behind a time of 4:37.03, while Hobza finished in fifteenth with a time of 4:49.19.
Whitney Hanson's (Ladysmith, Wis. / Bruce) strong weekend continued, as she once again recorded a top-8 finish for St. Cloud State. The junior captain came in sixth place in the 200 yard freestyle race thanks to a time of 1:53.91. Her teammate Ware finished just behind her in seventh with a time of 1:54.03, while Alexa Monty (New London, Wis. / Appleton North) and Gulon finished in 12tha nd 13th with times of 1:56.92 and 1:57.66 respectively.
The Huskies additionally performed well in the final event of the weekend: the 400 yard medley relay. St. Cloud State's top team of Marena Kouba (Sartell, Minn. / Sartell), Kara Cowell (Neenah, Wis. / Neenah), Moden and Friske finished in fourth place behind a time of 3:54.03. The Huskies "B" team of Monty, Hanson, Travis and Gulon took eighth with a time of 3:59.90.
Thanks to these and several other strong performances, the Huskies now sit in second place as a team with a two-day score of 424.5. St. Cloud State will return to action at 10 a.m. on Friday, February for the third day of the NSIC Championships in Fargo, North Dakota.
Players Mentioned
