School Records Fly Fast And Furious At MIAC Day 2
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (2/20/15)—For the second straight day Concordia saw school records broken and lifetime best times achieved at the MIAC Championship Meet.
The Cobbers also had a pair of swimmers compete in the "B" finals in the evening session marking the first time in several years that CC has had multiple swimmers participate in the finals in the same night.
Concordia finished Day 2 of the conference meet in ninth place in the overall team standings. The Cobbers have 93 total teams points heading into the final day of competition.
The morning prelim heats are where the record-breaking action took place for Concordia on Friday. The day started at break-neck speed with the 100-yard butterfly school record being broken not once, but three times. Freshman Ann Marie O'Connell started the unbelievable action by posting a school-record time of 1:02.99 in the second heat of prelims. That time bettered the old record of 1:03.06 set by Erika Miles back in 2001.
O'Connell's record would last less than 10 minutes as fellow freshman Sarah Nelson proceeded to clock a 1:02.60 in the third heat of prelims to better O'Connell's mark by .39 of a second. Nelson's time was also good enough to qualify for the "B" finals.
O'Connell had one more chance to retake the record as she had to participate in a swim-off for the alternate spot for the consolation finals heat. The final event of the morning turned out to be a record-breaking moment for O'Connell. She touched the pad in 1:02.07 to break Nelson's record and reclaim her title as fastest 100-yard butterfly athlete in school history.
The second school record of the morning had a familiar feel to it. Sophomore Libby Hardwick had set the school record in the 100-yard backstroke during Thursday night's 400-yard medley relay. Using the momentum of her teammates' unbelievable morning she turned around and broke her own school record. Hardwick posted a time of 1:01.13 which was the 11th fastest in quali
fying and bettered her mark from the first day of the MIAC Meet by .14 of a second.
Nelson and Hardwick would earn valuable team points in the "B" finals during the evening session. Nelson swam a 1:02.23 in the finals and finished in 15th place in the 100-yard butterfly. Her time was faster than her prelim time but failed to eclipse the swim-off mark set by O'Connell.
Hardwick posted the best finish by a Cobber swimmer at an MIAC Championship Meet since 2012 when she swam a 1:01.22 in the finals and finished in 12th place.
The other big news on the second day came in the final event of the evening session. The Cobber 800-yard freestyle relay team of Joleen Plekkenpol, O'Connell, Lily Johnson and Nelson posted a time of 8:14.66 which represents a 28-second drop from the previous season best and placed seventh. Their finishing time is the fastest by a CC quartet at an MIAC Meet since 2011.
The Cobbers' other relay team of the night – the 200-yard medley relay team finished in a time of 1:56.44 which was good for eighth place. The quartet of Hardwick, Hannah Winge, Nelson and Siri Berry dropped six seconds from the previous season best. It was also the fastest time in the relay since 2011.
Concordia will look to cap their successful MIAC Championship Meet under first-year head coach Talia Butery when they compete in Day 3 on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the University of Minnesota. The prelim heats get under way at 10:30 a.m. while the finals are slated to start at 6:30 p.m.
Team Scores After Day 2
1. Gustavus - 562.5
2. University of Saint Thomas - 547
3. St. Olaf College - 332.5
4. Carleton College - 254
5. College of Saint Benedict - 184
6. Macalester College - 148
7. Saint Catherine University - 136
8. Hamline University - 106
9. Concordia College - 93
10. Augsburg College – 73
11. Saint Mary's University - 67