Bright Finish To 2016

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/19/16)--- Concordia stumbled out of the block in their dual meet with the University of Mary but finished with a flourish in their final meet of the 2016 calendar year.

The Cobbers were disqualified in the opening relay of the dual meet but then came back to win the final two individual events of the day. The Cobbers wound up losing to the Division II Marauders 137-75 but had several outstanding swims in the meet.

Concordia sophomore Ciara White capped off the individual event portion of the meet by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:11.26. That time is almost two seconds faster than her previous season best and is currently seventh fastest in the MIAC this year.

White was neck-and-neck with the Mary swimmer at the final turn but then pulled away in the final 25 yards to get the win.

"My goal was to stay with her (University of Mary swimmer) and to beat her at the end," said White. "I saw in the last turn that we were pretty close so I really went after it."

The win is the third in a dual meet for White. She has won an individual event in two straight dual meets and in three of the team's four this season.

Alaina Dehnke continued her successful distance season. She was the other individual event winner for the Cobbers. She captured the 500-yard freestyle with a mark of 5:36.35. Dehnke won the event by over 3.0 seconds and her finishing time is a season best.

Dehnke was also third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:06.70. That time is also a season best.

Joleen Plekkenpol, Libby Hardwick and Sarah Nelson had second-place finishes for Concordia. Hardwick was second in the 100-yard backstroke after touching the wall in 1:06.55.

Plekkenpol was runner-up in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events. She clocked a 27.51 in the 50-yard race and then touched the pad in 59.18 in the 100-yard event.

White had a stellar finishing time in the 100-yard butterfly. She came home with a mark of 1:03.78 which is a season best by 1.60 seconds.

"Sarah had a great race," commented head coach Gary Fisher. "She kept her pace up the entire 100 yards and the success she has had in training showed at the end."

Fisher was also pleased with the duo of Katrina Teskey and Andrea Kittleson who competed in the 1650-yard freestyle for the first time all season. Teskey swam a 20:35.39 and Kittleson was close behind at 20:45.02.   

One of the biggest highlights of the day for Concordia came in the 1-meter diving event where Concordia freshman Kendra Roach competed for the first time this season. Roach posted  a score of 185.30 in her five-dive routine.

Concordia had a mixed bag in the two relay events. The Cobbers were disqualified in the opening 200-yard medley after one of the swimmers left the block early. Concordia then clocked a 3:57.80 in the 400-yard freestyle relay which earned them second place and was their season best time by 4.02 seconds.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will have an extended break for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday breaks. The Cobbers will train for almost two month before returning to the competition pool on Friday, Jan. 13 when they compete in the first day of the MSU Moorhead Dragon Invite.   

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