St. Cloud State
NSIC Championship
Huskies finish second, Brinkman named NSIC Diver of the Year
2/13/2021 10:14:00 PM | Women's Swim & Dive
FARGO, N.D. - The St. Cloud State University swim and dive team once again proved it is one of the top teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). After four days of healthy competition, the Huskies finished second as a team at the conference meet, scoring a combined four day score of 858.5 points.
The highlight of the day came on the 3-meter diving board, as St. Cloud State swept the top-4 spots in the competition, with Madison Brinkman (Grey Eagle, Minn. / Melrose) being crowned the NSIC Champion for the second consecutive season. The senior defended her conference title in dominant fashion, as she scored 482.56 total points in 11 dives. The mark is not only an NCAA qualifying score, but also a new conference record, as Brinkman broke the previous NSIC record of 477.30. She was additionally named the NSIC Diver of the Meet and Diver of the Year for the second straight year, while diving coach Kayla Deters was voted the NSIC Diving Coach of the Year.
Brinkman wasn't the only Husky diver to find success Saturday evening. In fact, the podium was made up entirely of entirely St. Cloud State divers, as Alyssa Doherty (Cudahy, Wis. / Whitnall), Meredith Matchinsky (St. Cloud, Minn. / Tech) and Annalisa Anderson (West Bend, Wis) finished 2-3-4 after Brinkman. Doherty finished second in the final NSIC Championship of her career with a NCAA qualifying mark of 437.45, while Matchinsky closed her outstanding weekend with a third place finish on the 30meter board thanks to her score of 427.85. Anderson finished fourth with a NCAA qualifying score of 426.40, while Taylor Terfher finished sixth with a score of 353.15.
The Huskies additionally found plenty of success in the pool Saturday morning and evening, as they saw another swimmer earn All-NSIC honors. Sarah Moden (Parker, Colo. / Legend) closed her impressive weekend with a second place finish in the 100 yard Individual Medley (IM) thanks to a time of 59.34, while Ashton Hobza (Albertville, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville) took eighth with a time of 1:02.04. Kaitlyn Zuehl (Verona, Wis. / Verona) additionally scored for St. Cloud State in the race, finishing 14th with a time of 1:02.95.
Two more Huskies finished top-8 in the 100 yard freestyle race. Kasey Milstroh (Foley, Minn. / Foley) and Christina Ware (Ankenny, Iowa / Centennial) finished sixth and seventh in the race with times of 52.77 and 52.79 respectively. Alaina Friske (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) and Sydney Gulon (Detroit Lakes, Minn. / Detroit Lakes) additionally finished in the top-16 with times of 53.26 and 53.91 respectively.
Another pair of St. Cloud State swimmers earned top-16 finishes in both the 200 yard back and breaststroke races. Alexis Monty (New London, Wis. / Appleton North) just missed All-Conference honors, as she came in fourth with a time of 2:03.68. Marena Kouba (Sartell, Minn. / Sartell) took 14th behind a time of 2:10.79.
In the 200 breaststroke, Kara Cowell (Neenah, Wis. / Neenah) and Whitney Hanson (Ladysmith, Wis. / Bruce) were the lone Huskies to score in the race. Cowell finished in 11th with a time of 2:27.75 while Hanson finished right behind her teammate in 12th with a time of 2:28.28.
Three St. Cloud State swimmers earned top-8 times in the longest race of the NSIC Championships: the 1650 freestyle. Andrea Rodriguez (Ankenny, Iowa) recorded the best finish of the night in the event, as she came in fourth with a time of 18:00.76. Rosie Pang (Shah Alam, Malaysia / Sri Kuala Lumpur International School) finished in seventh with a time of 18:08.37, while Molly Arneson (Springboro, Ohio / Springboro) came in eighth with a time of 18:15.74.
In the final event of the championship, the 400 yard freestyle relay, the Huskies came in third with a time of 3:28.77.
Thanks to these and several other performances over the course of four days, St. Cloud State finished in second place as a team with a combined team score of 858.5. The Huskies will return to action at the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled March 17-20 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Players Mentioned
