Second Verse Is Better Than The First

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/04/22)---The second verse was better than the first for the Cobbers in their opening weekend of the season. After falling in their first competition of the year on Friday, Concordia returned to the pool on Saturday, recorded seven event wins and beat Hamline 120-98.

It's the second win over the Pipers in the last three years for CC as they beat HU 118-99 in the 2021 campaign.

The Cobber 200-yard medley relay team of Camille Gunderson, Haley Juetten, Jess Bray and Hailey Jaeger set the tone for the meet. They went out and posted a time of 2:05.00 and won the event by 1.24 seconds. Gunderson, Bray and Jaeger would go on to record individual event wins as well.

Concordia turned the double in relay events by finishing off the meet with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Gunderson and Bray were joined by Kaitlin Cramer and Brienna Timm, and the quartet clocked a 4:06.49 which was over 2-seconds clear of the fastest Hamline time.

Jaeger chalked up her fourth event victory of the weekend by winning the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.

The turning point of the meet came midway through the competition when the Cobbers won four straight events. Jaeger started the streak with her victory in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:08.20. Bray followed by winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time 1:01.23. That event was the pivotal point in the stretch as CC went 1-2-3 with Timm securing second in 1:03.15 and Chantelle Schmidt out touching the top Piper swimmer with a time of 1:05.84.

Gunderson made it three straight when she claimed a 2-second win the 100-yard backstroke after touching the wall in 1:10.45. Cramer capped the run with a win in the 500-yard freestyle. She came home in a time of 6:06.40.             

Sophomore diver Kiernan Darling faced her first tough competition of the year and stepped up to the occasion. She went head-to-head with Hamline diver Courtney Broyles who won the 3-meter, and was second in 1-meter at last spring's MIAC Meet. Darling was within 25 points in the required portion of the 1-meter competition and then had a solid optional segment.      

UP NEXT: Concordia will have a 4-week break before returning to competition when they travel to St. Paul to participate in the Macalester Invite on Dec. 2-3.