NMU swimmers, divers get feet wet at St. Cloud
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ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- The women's swimming and diving team at Northern Michigan University recorded a nonconference sweep at St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday, while the Huskies men took both meets from NMU.
In the season openers for NMU, the Northern women scored a 156 1/2-86 1/2 victory on Friday, then added a 147 1/2-75 1/2 win on Saturday.
At the same time, the Wildcat men fell 158-84 and 155-68 in their meets against what is a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent on the men's side only.
"Good first outing for the team," Northern head coach Heidi Voigt said in an NMU Sports Information news release detailing the meets. "Divers were amazing; six total NCAA pre-qualification meet cuts.
"Our women won both meets and had several double winners, and we have a young men's team that raced hard. Standout swimmers (for me) were Matteo Ballardin and Laura Stockinger.
"I think we learned a lot, and now we're excited to work the next couple weeks into our SVSU meet."
Both teams' next meet is against Saginaw Valley State and several other teams at their home PEIF pool on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24. On that Friday, the third-year Lake Superior State squads will also be in the field, while on Saturday, it will be those two opponents plus Grand Valley State.
Here are breakdowns by day:
Friday
Starting in the late afternoon, a quartet of NMU swimmers each scored 18 points by winning two individual events, two each from the women's and men's teams.
For the women, freshman Rowan Schmidt and senior Annika Geyer each had a pair of individual victories and a win as part of a relay.
Schmidt took the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke, then led off the victorious 200 medley relay.
Geyer won the grueling 500 freestyle and 1,000 free, then led off the 200 free relay winners.
Ballardin, a sophomore who is the reigning men's GLIAC Swimmer of the Year and GLIAC Freshman of the Year, won the 100 fly and 100 individual medley, adding a second place with the 200 free relay.
Men's teammate and freshman Matteo Medina won the 500 and 1,000 free races, also swimming with the ninth-place 200 free relay team.
Divers also did well. For the women in one-meter, sophomore Lillian Marx won with 427.00 points, while fellow sophomore Grace Daly was runner-up with 419.05 and senior Kalina Ceglinski was third with 402.40 to finish the podium sweep.
With the men, Northern senior Diego Carrillo won the three-meter event with 291.40 points, while on one-meter, Carillo was third with 461.10, senior Ryan Foucault fourth with 414.70 and sophomore Benaiah Schnurstein fifth with 406.90.
In relays, Schmidt joined sophomore Ludovica Bonini, freshman Wiktoria Michaluk and the sophomore Stockinger to win the women's 200 medley relay, while Stockinger was with senior Abigail Keen, junior Victoria Burda and junior Ellie Kilgard for second in the 200 free relay.
In men's relays, Ballardin joined freshman Mateo Gomez Ravecca, senior Youssef Nahali and senior Gabriel Fulconi to take second in the 200 free relay, while Fulconi. Nahali and Gomez Ravecca were joined by freshman Mosley Patzke for third in the 200 medley relay.
Saturday
Ballardin was the star of the second day's session, again scoring 18 points for the men as he won the 200 fly and 200 breaststroke while swimming the third leg of the runner-up 400 free relay.
The women spread their scoring quite evenly, with five Wildcats scoring 12, 12 1/2 or 13 points.
Sophomore Nadia Blackmore won the 200 breast and was second in the 200 IM while swimming with the 400 medley relay. Geyer won the 200 fly while swimming with the runner-up 200 free relay and another third-place relay.
Daly won three-meter diving with 244.35 points and was second in the one-meter with 247.65. Ceglinski won the one-meter with 249.45, while freshman Riley Hummel was third in both events, scoring 234.70 in three-meter and 227.05 in one-meter.
In men's diving, Foucault was runner-up with 276.55 points in the three-meter, while in one-meter, Carrillo was third with 264.40, Schnurstein fourth with 249.05 and Foucault fifth with 244.15.
Schmidt, Blackmore, Keen and senior Sophia Moore won the women's 400 medley relay, while Keen, Schmidt, Stockinger and freshman Sydney Matheny won the 400 free relay.
Among the men, Gomez Ravecca, Nahali, Ballardin and Fulconi were second in the 400 free relay, while Patzke, Gomez Ravecca, Fulconi and freshman Charlie Prince were third in the 400 medley relay.
Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the meets. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.