Women's swimming takes top spot at Hamline

ST. PAUL, MINN. – Braving the elements, Morningside's swimmers rose early and headed north to Hamline University for some quick races as part of the Hamline University Invitational on Saturday.

To begin the meet Sydney Lueth, Maya McReynolds, Maddy Slaughter, and Mackenzie Campbell placed second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:04.84.

Finishing first and second, Kirstin Verplanke and Haley Snawerdt represented Morningside well in the 200-yard freestyle with times of 2:09.98 and 2:10.95.

Slaughter placed second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:08.87.

In the 100-yard backstroke Lueth had a first place finish with a time of 1:07.53. Amber Westerberg placed third in the same event with a time of 1:14.05.

For the 100-yard breaststroke Grace Holzerland swam a time of 1:15.28, good for second place. In the same event, McReynolds touched the wall in fourth place with a time of 1:18.89.

Josie Dike was the top Mustang for the sprinting events, placing first in both the 50-yard freestyle at 26.67, and 100-yard freestyle at 59.04. In the 50-yard freestyle event Campbell touched right behind Dike for second place with a time of 26.78. Holzerland and Snawerdt were also right behind Dike in the 100-yard freestyle event placing second and fourth with times of 59.66 and 1:00.47.

In the 500-yard freestyle Verplanke touched the wall in second place with a time of 5:42.83 and Slaughter touched in third place with a time of 6:12.70.

For the last individual event of the meet, McReynolds and Westerberg went second and third in the 200-yard individual medley with times of 2:39.37 and 2:42.70.

Concluding the meet with the 200-yard freestyle relay, Dike, Campbell, Holzerland, and Verplanke touched the wall in first place with a time of 1:48.00.

The women's team came out on top for points ranking first overall with 77 points. Mustangs will be in Fremont, Neb. for the KCAC Championships on Thursday Feb. 2 through Saturday Feb. 4.