Baker's Dozen Top 10 Finishes Highlight First Meet Of 2022

WEST FARGO, N.D. (01/15/22)---Concordia made a splash in its very first meet of 2022. Returning to action after a 41-day break for the holidays, the Cobbers recorded a baker's dozen Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Division II multi-team MSU Moorhead Dragon Invite held at the Hulbert Aquatic Center.

Freshman Hailey Jaeger led the way for Concordia as she posted a quintet of Top 10 finishes and put up two season-best marks.

Jaeger was one of several Cobber athletes who recorded season-best times as Concordia's training trip to Duluth before the New Year, paid huge dividends in the first meet of the New Year.

Jaeger's top event in the 2-day competition came in the 50-yard freestyle where she won her heat and placed fifth in an event that featured 39 competitors. Jaeger clocked a 25.88 which is just shy of her fasted time of the year when she won the 50-free at the Gustavus Invite in November.

Jaeger was also fifth in the 100-yard butterfly where she recorded a season-best time of 1:04.59 and was less than .68 of a second away from a Top 3 finish.

Jaeger's other Top 10 finishes came in the 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke. She was sixth in both the breaststroke and freestyle events and eighth in the backstroke. Jaeger also posted a season-best mark in the 100 free where she came home in 57.50.

Junior Jess Bray and freshman Emily Oswald came through with the other multiple Top 10 finishes for Concordia. Bray was seventh in the 50-yard butterfly and eighth in the 100-yard individual medley. She clocked a 30.59 in the 50 fly and a 1:11.03 in the 100 IM.         

Oswald had her Top 10 finishes in the sprint breaststroke events. She was ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a mark of 1:27.88 and 10th in the 50-yard breaststroke at 38.56.  

The 100-yard breaststroke also saw teammates Chantelle Schmidt and Lindsey Biebl come through with Top 10 marks. Smith was eighth in 1:27.88 and Biebl was 10th with a time of 1:31.47.

Sophomore Rachel Andersen was the top distance finisher for the Cobbers. Swimming in her first 1650-yard freestyle event in two years, Andersen finished eighth with a time of 21:49.37. That mark puts her in the Top 30 of the MIAC.

Andersen also posted her season-best time in the 500-yard freestyle where she posted a time of 6:08.65.

The final Top 10, and season best, mark was turned in by junior Audrey Zeleny who swam a 31.78 in the 50-yard butterfly and finishes in 10th place.

The most dramatic event of the meet for the Cobbers came in the 200-yard medley relay team of Kaitlin Cramer, Bray, Jaeger and Zeleny out touched relay teams from Minn.-Morris and Concordia-St. Paul to finish sixth in a field of 14 teams. The quartet posted a finishing time of 1:49.20.

Concordia's other top relay was the 200-yard medley quartet of Cramer, Jaeger, Bray and Brienna Timm who swam a 2:03.82 and placed eighth.       

UP NEXT: Concordia will start its 2022 dual-meet schedule when they face the Dragons on Friday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. at MSU Moorhead.