HILLSDALE, Mich. – A hundredth of a second is what ultimately decided a women's swimming and diving dual meet between Division II Hillsdale College and Division III Albion College Friday night.
The margin in the team scoring was just two points when the teams dove in the pool for the 200-yard freestyle relay, the final event of the night. Hillsdale achieved a time of 1:40.68 to edge Albion (1:40.69) to emerge with the meet, 141-130.
Albion made a late charge to set up the thrilling ending to the meet.
- Albion outscored Hillsdale, 15-4, in the 200 breaskstroke with Kaitlind Hooper winning the event by one hundredth of a second over Courtney Swingewood (2:38.04-2:38.05) while Katy Henning scored in fourth place.
- Tia Ulieme won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.37 and Alexandra Horman was fourth (1:01.21) as Albion outscored Hillsdale, 11-8, in the event. Ulieme had a healthy ½ second lead over her opponent from Hillsdale at the finish.
- Samantha Swingewood and Courtney Swingewood finished first and third, respectively, in the 400 individual medley as Albion outscored Hillsdale, 12-7, in the event. Samantha Swingewood, swimming shortly after a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle, achieved a time of 4:45.96 to win the event by 4 ½ seconds over the runner-up from Hillsdale.
Albion also enjoyed a 14-5 advantage in the 100 backstroke where Rileigh Eding dominated the field to win by nearly ¾ of a second. Eding set a winning time of 59.83 with Nicole McCann coming in third and Emily Merucci in fourth.
Eding added a first place finish with Kathryn Henning, Horman and Hannah Erickson in the 400 medley relay. Eding's leadoff split of 1:004.6 set Albion on its way to a 4:05.59 finish which was nearly seven seconds ahead of Hillsdale. Albion started the meet with a 13-4 lead when the 'B' team of Merucci, Hooper, Ulieme and Allison Dasky finished third.
Sarah Griffiths helped Albion edge Hillsdale, 10-9, in the 200 butterfly scoring with a first place performance, reaching the finish in 2:12.62.
Rachel Stander was unopposed in 1-meter diving.
Next up for Albion is a Nov. 8-9 quadrangular meet at Calvin University.
For the latest information on the team, follow @AlbionSwimming on Twitter and albion_acsd on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at gobrits on Twitter, AlbionAthletics on Instagram and Albion College Athletics on Facebook.
Joe and Julie Serra have given a $5 million leadership gift to launch a fundraising initiative to make two dreams a reality at Albion College. The first is a newly expanded fitness and student activity facility at the site of the current Dow Recreation and Wellness Center. The second is a new or renovated competition facility for the volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball teams that currently call Kresge Gymnasium home.
The College is continuing to raise funds in support of both projects. To learn more, call 517/629-0446 or email advancement@albion.edu
