Hedstrom And Medley Relay Team Shine In Day 1
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (2/13/14)—Concordia kicked off the 2014 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championship Meet by posting a "podium" finish in a relay and having a diver qualify for the finals. In the end the Cobbers were tied for eighth place after the first of three days at the conference meet.
The 400-yard medley relay team of Madeline Johnson, Megan Obrecht, Libby Hardwick and Joleen Baker swam a 4:17.39 in final event of Day 1 and grabbed the final spot on the podium by finishing in eighth place.
Sophomore diver Jana Hedstrom posted the top finish from day 1 as she recorded a total score of 207.60 in the prelims of the 3-meter diving competition and qualified for the semifinals in the event. Hedstrom also qualified for the finals in the event last year as a freshman with a score of 180.05. She will dive in the semifinals on Friday morning with the top 8 divers competing in the finals on Friday night.
Concordia's other finals relay that swam on Thursday night was the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Rachel Aldinger, Kelsey Appert, Baker and Abbey Benson. The quartet swam a 1:44.90 and finished ninth in the event. They missed the top 8, and a podium finish, by .74 of a second.
The top individual swimming performance of Thursday's preliminary heats was turned in by Baker who swam a 25.79 in the 50-yard freestyle and finished in 27th place. Jordyn Olson was 28th in the 500-yard freestyle with a prelim time of 5:42.19.
The Cobbers will look to improve on their T8th-place finish when they swim in the preliminary heats on Day 2 of the MIAC Meet on Friday, Feb. 14 beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
