Last weekend, while NMU’s hockey and soccer teams held games in Marquette for the home crowd, the Women’s Swimming and Diving team traveled on a 10-hour bus ride to Moorhead, Minn. for its first official collegiate competition of the year.
The meet took place Friday and Saturday and was a double-dual meet between NMU, St. Cloud State University (SCSU) and Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
Northern fell to Moorhead by a margin of 169.5 points to 68.5 on Friday and 218 to 81 on Saturday. SCSU beat NMU 200 points to 38 on Friday and 237 to 61 on Saturday.
Head coach Bob Laughna said the results were not surprising. SCSU and Moorhead fielded 32 and 26 athletes respectively against NMU’s 11, numbers Laughna said were a huge disadvantage for Northern’s team.
“[SCSU] can build three relays,” Laughna said. “We’re very limited in size. We don’t have the depth of talent.”
That is not to say that Northern did not have notable performances. Laughna singled out the races of freshman Elyse Sawka and junior Sarah Cempel, both of whom competed in the 1650 yard -freestyle race on Friday. Sawka took third with 19:38.91, with Cempel following in fifth with 20:04.05.
Another strong race at the meet was turned in by freshman Ashley Oliver, who placed third in the 50-yard backstroke. Also swimming well were senior captain Emily Olson (sixth in the 100-yard butterfly) and Hannah Bolger (sixth in the 200-yard backstroke).
A more personal triumph was experienced by freshman Stephanie Rogaczewski, who has wasted no time improving her performances. Rogaczewski swam personal-best times in both her 400-yard Individual Medley and 200-yard butterfly races.
“I was pretty happy with that,” Rogaczewski said. “It was very exciting.”
Rogaczewski added that she hoped she kept dropping times to be competitive at the GLIAC meet. Laughna is not despairing, however, and hopes that the team will be able to be competitive soon.
“They’re working hard,” he said. “I’m pleased. They’re pretty consistent and I’m looking for them to be consistent in times.”
Perhaps the biggest success story for NMU as a team was the performance of the divers Kelli and Kara Vander Baan. Both athletes had a stellar weekend, and neither finishing below seventh place either day. Kelli took third in Friday’s 1-meter event and Kara finished in seventh. The pair switched roles in the 3-meter dive, as Kara (who took third) edged her sister out by less than half a point.
The twins took top honors in Saturday’s 3-meter, placing first and second. Kelli won the event by over 20 points.
Although Kelli believed both she and her sister dove well on Friday, she did say the travel conditions probably hindered their performances. After the ten hour bus ride, the diving events ended up taking place at almost 11 p.m. Eastern time.
“I think, on both days, we had really good performances,” Kelli said. “Saturday, I think we did even better because we were more rested and more adapted.”
Kelli said she thinks both divers are doing well. For the season, they have set numerous short-term goals for themselves, including new dives and improving different technical aspects of their dives.
“I think we’re on the right track,” she said.
The Wildcat swimmers and divers have another chance to gauge their performances on Nov. 1 when they travel to Wisconsin’s Carthage College for the Kiefer Fall Classic.