Geyer, Stockinger, Keen lead Wildcats in points
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — The #10 women’s swimming and #5 diving teams wrapped up the weekend with another strong showing in the pool.
The team finished second of six teams with 1630.5 points, behind Grand Valley in first with 2152.5 points and ahead of Findlay with 1307.5 points.
Annika Geyer paced the ‘Cats with 77 points over the weekend, followed by Laura Stockinger with 67, Abby Keen with 63, and Sophia Moore and Carlotta Santi with 61.
The full meet results will be found here when made available.
How It Happened – Evening Finals
The meet started with a mixed swimming of the 1650 freestyle before kicking off the full-female 1650, which featured Ellie Kilgard as the lone Wildcat in the ‘second’ heat. The Wildcat posted an 18:08.97 to finish second in the heat. Anika Wright, Caitlin Aarseth, and Annika Geyer all featured in the final heat, with Wright entering with the fastest time of the group. Wright would finish third by just two seconds at 17:15.60, followed by Geyer in fourth at 17:27.28, and Aarseth would finish seventh at 17:58.92.
The 200 back had three events with 22 swimmers, with Evangeline Pierce and Emma Casas representing the ‘Cats in the A finals. Pierce posted a time of 2:02.27 to finish third, and Casas posted a time of 2:07.77 to round out the heat. Kenzie Stute (2:10.01) and Nicole Malinova (2:10.31) represented NMU in the B final, placing 11th and 12th.
The trio of Laura Stockinger (52.26), Abby Keen (52.30), and Joanne Arbic (52.64) swam in the A final of the 100 free, finishing fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively. The trio of Phini Schneider (53.79), Carlotta Santi (54.07), and Ellie Kilgard (54.08) also finished one after the other, placing 14, 15, and 16 in the B final.
The Wildcats had two swimmers competing in the 200 breast, those being Julia Zimpel (2:21.72) and Nadia Blackmore (2:23.93), who finished sixth and seventh of 24 swimmers. Manuela Araujo (2:27.22) and Ludovica Bonini (2:27.69) finished back-to-back in the B final at 12 and 13 to round out the NMU swimmers in the event.
Annika Geyer (2:08.90), Pauline Izydorek (2:11.98), and Sophia Moore (2:13.33) all swam in the A final of the 200 fly, claiming third, sixth, and eighth, respectively. Julia Plevak was the lone Wildcat in the B final, finishing 15th with a time of 2:20.04.
Kalina Ceglinski entered the evening in second place in the 3-meter diving after a score of 408.80 in the prelims. Grace Daly entered in sixth with 384.30, Lillian Marx in ninth at 364.35, and Josie Bossen in tenth at 349.85. The finals results will be updated once made available.
The NMU A and B teams competed in the A finals of the 400 Free Relay, an event that featured 27 relay teams. The NMU A team claimed fourth with a time of 3:28.76, and the B team finished sixth with its time of 3:33.22. The NMU C team placed 11th at 3:36.79, followed by the D and E teams at 13th and 14th.
How It Happened – Morning Session
The morning kicked off with four heats of 28 swimmers for the 200 back. Evangeline Pierce and Emma Casas both qualified for the A finals this evening, with Pierce posting the third-fastest time at 2:02.86 and Casas posting the eighth-quickest time at 2:06.47, with Casas coming out of the second heat and Pierce in the fourth heat. Kenzie Stute (2:09.99) and Nicole Malinova (2:10.69) placed 11th and 12th to qualify for the evening’s B final, both swimming in heat two.
In the 100 free, there would be a swim-off necessary between Vicky Burda and Carlotta Santi, as they tied for the 16th position. Phini Schneider qualified in 14th, and Ellie Kilgard in 11th. Three ‘Cats qualified for the A final, with Joanne Arbic and Abby Keen tying for fifth, and Laura Stockinger finishing 4th.
The 200 breast saw five heats of 34 swimmers, and the Wildcats had three earn spots in tonight’s A finals. Evie DeCarlo (2:20.69) finished fifth, Julia Zimpel (2:22.78) in seventh, and Nadia Blackmore (2:23.96) in eighth. Decarlo swam in the third heat, and both Zimpel and Blackmore swam in the fifth heat. Ludovica Bonini and Manuela Araujo will represent NMU in the B finals, finishing 14th and 15th, respectively.
The 200 fly completed the morning pool events, hosting three heats of 22 swimmers. NMU had three swimmers qualify for the A finals, led by Annika Geyer (2:06.90), posting the second-quickest time. Sophia Moore (2:12.09) and Pauline Izydorek (2:15.35) finished sixth and eighth to claim spots in the top heat tonight. Julia Plevak finished 14th and will swim in the B final, and Phini Schneider was scratched.
