Belles Finish Eleventh at Calvin Winter Invitational
Saint Mary's Stories
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Saint Mary's swimming and diving team finished eleventh at the Calvin Winter Invitational on Saturday night.
Division II Grand Valley State won the three-day event with a team score of 824. Fellow Division II members Northern Michigan and University of Indianapolis finished second and third, respectively.
The Belles' 400 free relay were the high finishers on the day for Saint Mary's. Ellie Watson, Anna Nolan, Megan Knobloch, and Carolyn Neville combined to finish 17th in a time of 3:45.47. In the first event of the evening session, the 200 medley relay of Nolan, Neville, Watson, and Knobloch teamed up for 23rd with a 2:01.20.
Individually, Liz Litke, Sinead Hickey, and Anna Nolan all earned spots in the bonus consolation finals. Litke (2:50.32) and Hickey (3:05.81) were 21st and 23rd, respectively, in the preliminaries of the 200 breaststroke and later matched those same finishes with swims of 2:51.45 and 3:12.07. Nolan, meanwhile, was 23rd in the morning preliminaries of the 100 freestyle after taking nearly two seconds off her seeded time in the event with a 55.75. In the evening, she moved up to 22nd with a 56.21.
In the morning session of the 100 free, Litke and Hickey both took considerable time off of their seed times. Litke improved her time by more than eight seconds while a 7.82 second drop in her time. Sarah Thompson and Emily Brown also sliced time off their seeded times in the 100 free preliminaries.
Carolyn Neville claimed 26th in the 100 free with a time of 56.00, a .93-second improvement upon her seeded time. Ellie Watson was a top-30 finisher in the 500 free with a 5:26.00 for a three-second improvement upon her seeded time for 26th. Marta Carrion and Genevieve Spittler were also in the top 30 in the 200 backstroke. Carrion had a two-second cut in her time with a 2:40.21 for 28th, and Spittler swam a 2:41.59 for 29th.
Andrea Canacci, meanwhile, was 23rd in the 1-meter diving preliminaries with an 11-dive score of 250.90.
The Belles will return to action after the new year when they compete in the Citrus Classic on January 5 on their winter training trip in Arizona.
Saint Mary's Results
500 free: (prelims) Ellie Watson, 26th (5:26.00); Emily Brown, 39th (5:45.82); Liz Palmer, 48th (5:57.46); Paige Handy, 49th (6:12.63)
200 back: (prelims) Marta Carrion, 28th (2:40.21); Genevieve Spittler, 29th (2:41.59)
100 fly: (prelims) Spittler, 37th (1:10.64)
200 breaststroke: (prelims) Liz Litke, 21st (2:50.32); Sinead Hickey, 23rd (3:05.81) (finals) Litke, 21st (2:51.45); Hickey, 23rd (3:12.07)
100 free: (prelims) Anna Nolan, 23rd (55.75); Carolyn Neville, 26th (56.00); Megan Knobloch, 37th (58.07); Sarah Thompson, 38th (58.18); Brown, 41st (59.41); Litke, 48th (1:01.41); Hickey, 51st (1:04.08); Palmer, exh (1:03.42); Handy, exh (1:06.15)
(finals) Nolan, 22nd (56.21)
200 IM: (prelims) Neville, 31st (2:24.96)
400 free relay: Watson, Nolan, Knobloch,Neville, 17th (3:45.47); Kristyn Gerbeth, Brown, Litke, Spittler, 28th (4:09.12)
1 meter diving: Andrea Canacci, 23rd (250.90)
200 medley relay: Nolan, Neville, Watson, Knobloch, 23rd (2:01.20); Carrion, Litke, Spittler, Thompson, exh (2:07.26)