800 relay grabs a bronze medal
HOLLAND, Mich. — The NMU women’s swim team found solid results on day three of the GLIAC Championships.
Evangeline Pierce and Emma Casas earned silver and bronze medals in the 100 back, marking Pierce’s second medal and Casas’s first of the championships.
The night ended with the 800 free relay team of Carlotta Santi, Abby Keen, Ellie Kilgard, and Annika Geyer earning bronze in the 800 free relay; Santi’s first, Keen’s second, Kilgard’s first, and Geyer’s first medals of the championship.
Other top finishes include Santi finishing fourth in the 500 free, Stockinger sixth in the 100 back, DeCarlo and Zimpel sixth and eighth in the 100 breast, and Geyer sixth in the 200 fly.
The Wildcats remained in second palce, moving up to 504 points, only behind Grand Valley with 777. Wayne State is trailing NMU in third with 401, followed by Davenport with 313 and SVSU with 309.
The final day of the GLIAC Chamionships are Monday, February 9, with the final prelim session beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
Running Medal Count
Day 1
200 Medley – Bronze (Stockinger, DeCarlo, Schneider, Arbic)
50 Free – Bronze (Stockinger)
200 Free relay – Silver (Stockinger, Keen, Burda, Arbic)
Day 2
400 Medley Relay – Bronze (Pierce, DeCarlo, Izydorek, Stockinger)
Day 3
100 Back – Silver and Bronze (Pierce, Casas)
800 Free Relay – Bronze (Santi, Keen, Kilgard, Geyer)
How It Happened
The finals began with the B heat of the 500 free, that saw Caitlin Aarseth and Ellie Kilgard competing in lanes six and eight. Aarseth finished 12th at 5:11.69, and Kilgard 14th at 5:14.73. Carlotta Santi entered the championship as the fifth seed but would finish in fourth, as she dropped just over three seconds off her prelims time, finishing at 4:57.53.
Vicky Burda opened the 100 back as the lone representative in the B final, where she finished 16th at 1:00.71. The ‘Cats saw three in the championship heat: Evangeline Pierce, Laura Stockinger, and Emma Casas, who entered the championship heat as times one, two, and four. Pierce and Casas earned silver and bronze at 55.83 and 56.18, and Stockinger sixth at 57.33.
Nadia Blackmore and Manuela Araujo represented the Green and Gold in the B final of the 100 breast. Blackmore won the heat at 1:04.47, and Araujo finished fourth in the heat at 1:06.06. Evie DeCarlo and Julia Zimpel swam in the championship heat, where they finished sixth and eighth with times of 1:03.74 and 1:04.47, respectively.
The ‘Cats had three compete in the B final of the 200 fly, led by Sophia Moore and Pauline Izydorek finishing second and third at 2:09.44 and 2:10.03, respectively. Phini Schneider touched the wall at 2:14.81. Annika Geyer swam in the championship heat, finishing sixth at 2:07.99.
The evening ended with the 800 free relay, a team of Carlotta Santi, Abby Keen, Ellie Kilgard, and Annika Geyer. The team rounded out the podium, earning bronze with a time of 7:34.71.
Morning Session
Carlotta Santi earned her way into the championship heat of the 500 free as the fifth seed, while Caitlin Aarseth and Ellie Kilgard both earned spots in the B final as the 12th and 16th seeds.
The women are primed for medals in the 100 back, as Evangeline Pierce and Laura Stockinger enter the championship heat as the top-two times from the prelims, followed by Emma Casas posting the fourth-quickest time. Vicky Burda will represent NMU in the B finals as the 13th seed, and Abby Keen is the second alternate after an 18th-place finish.
Evie DeCarlo and Julia Zimpel will represent NMU in the championship heat of the 100 breast as the fifth and seventh seed, while Nadia Blackmore and Manuela Araujo will feature as the 10th and 12th seed in the B final, respectively. Ludovica Bonini posted a time that was the first spot outside of the 8th seed in the A final and was scratched. Brooklyn Milward was also scratched.
Anika Geyer will represent NMU in the championship heat of the 200 fly, posting the fourth-fastest prelim time. Sophia Moore, Pauline Izydorek, and Phini Schneider will all swim in the B finals as the 10, 11, and 14 seeds.
The finals begin at 5:30 p.m. ET, and fans can catch all the action on Flo Swimming and the Meet Mobile app.
This story will be updated tomorrow morning after tonight’s finals.
How It Happened
The day started with the three heats of the 500 free, an event that saw three student-athletes earn spots into the finals tonight. Carlotta Santi claimed victory in heat one with a time of 5:00.61, followed by teammate Ellie Kilgard finishing fifth in the heat at 5:19.26. Caitlin Aarseth represented the ‘Cats in the second heat, finishing fourth in lane six at 5:15.59.
Abby Keen represented NMU in heat one of four of the 100 back, where she finished first in the heat at 1:00.65. Emma Casas, who entered with the third-fastest entry time, swam in lane four of heat two. Casas took her heat, posting a time of 56.80, the fastest time through two heats. Heat three was packed with ‘Cats, featuring Nicole Malinova in lane two, Laura Stockinger in lane three, Evangeline Pierce in lane four, and Vicky Burda in lane seven. Pierce and Stockinger went one and two with 55.99 and 56.26, posting the new fastest times, followed by Malinova and Burda in fifth and sixth at 59.22 and 59.36. Kenzie Stute was the lone representative in the fourth heat, where she finished sixth in the heat at 1:00.21.
Brooklyn Milward opened up the 100 breast in heat one of four, where she claimed first at 1:09.59. Julia Zimpel and Evie DeCarlo followed up their teammate in heat two, as DeCarlo and Zimpel would go one and two with times of 1:04.31 and 1:04.43. Manuela Araujo and Nadia Blackmore featured next in lanes two and six, where Blackmore finished third at 1:04.98 and Araujo fifth at 1:06.57. Ludovica Bonini was the lone representative in the final heat, where she touched the wall fifth at 1:04.67.
Annie Devine represented NMU in the 200 fly in heat one of four, finishing second in the heat at 2:16.54. Heat two featured Phini Schneider in lane two and Sophia Moore in lane six; Moore finished third at 2:10.85, and Schneider fifth at 2:14.05. Heat three had three Wildcat swimmers, with Annika Geyer, Julia Plevak, and Pauline Izydorek. Geyer missed first place in the heat by 0.01 seconds, finishing second at 2:07.25, while Izydorek and Plevak touched at 2:11.53 and 2:13.95.
