For Immediate Release
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014
NSIC Media Relations
Results
Photo
Rochester, Minn. – The St. Cloud State University women's swimming and diving team competed in the fourth and final day of the NSIC Championship meet today. The St. Cloud State women clinched the NSIC Championship title this evening, finishing with 1418 total team points.

LINDENWOOD
Lindenwood opened the final day by winning the top three slots in the 1650 free competition, Kirchner won the event with a time of 17:29.40, just 0.10 seconds ahead of teammate Troxel. Natalie Rembisz was third with a time of 17:41.34. Also scoring in the event was Kelsey Hutton in sixth.  Tweesmann made it back-to-back titles for Lindenwood as she won the next event in the 100 free. She swam a time of 52.51 and touched the wall just 0.05 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Thornton came in fourth and Vinyard was fifth in the top finals heat. Steffes came in seventh, Dahl was 10^th, Davila Gallego was 12^th, and Connors was 13^th.  The next event turned out to be the turning point of the championships as St. Cloud State scored 120 points in the 200 back. Lindenwood's McGillivray led the team with a fifth-place showing, and Wood came in eighth in that event. In the 200 breaststroke, Coleman earned runner-up honors with a 2:19.89 time. Cramer finished fourth and Nettles was 15^th. In the final diving competition, Wayne finished fourth with a score of 384.80. Werkema was seventh in the event and Brady was 12^th. The event ended with the 400 free relay. Lindenwood's top squad of McGillivray, Porter, Thornton, and Tweesmann finished second with a time of 3:30.30. That relay missed winning a conference title by just 0.05 seconds.

MSU MOORHEAD
The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's swimming and diving team finished third at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships, which concluded on Sunday in Rochester, Minn. Dragon senior Kelsey Jandro was named the NSIC Diver of the Year while MSUM's John Schmidt was named the NSIC Diving Coach of the Year. MSUM finished with 909.5 team points at the meet, 47 points ahead of fourth-place Minnesota State, Mankato. St. Cloud State won the meet. Jandro, who won the 1-meter diving title on Saturday, was second in the 3-meter diving with a score of 402.80, while senior Shayna Dugger was third with a score of 396.60. Both earned all-conference honors in the event, and both divers finished the week with two All-NSIC honors each. Jandro is the first Dragon to win the Diver of the Year award from the NSIC. MSUM was fourth in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:37.66. That consisted of sophomore Rachel Erickson, junior Susie Kitzman, senior Angelee Hale and senior Megan Rieland. The Dragons had a pair of top-six finishes in the 200 breaststroke, led by sophomore Jackie Woods in fifth at 2:25.56 and senior Kelli Nadeau in sixth at 2:26.51. In the 100 free, Kitzman was the top finisher, taking eighth at 54.03, .07 seconds faster than her prelim time.  Rieland was 18th at 55.18. Hale had an impressive time of 18:13.45 in 1,650, which placed her eighth. That was nearly 34 seconds faster than her seed time. Freshman Kelly Engbring was 13th at 18:42.32, more than 42 seconds faster than her seed time. Freshman Megan Palazzolo was 18th at 19:26.76, more than 16 seconds faster than her seed.Sophomore Annika Bordak was 11th in the 200 backstroke with a time 2:12.39, with freshman teammate Madison Kuznia in 12th at 2:12.97.  Erickson was 14th at 2:11.78, almost two seconds faster than her prelim time, with sophomore Kaitlyn McKinney in 15th at 2:15.07.
MSUM will host a Last Chance meet on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Nemzek Pool.

MINNESOTA STATE
The Minnesota State women's swimming and diving team finished the four-day NSIC Championships in fourth place as the Mavericks claimed three third-place finishes on the final day of competition. St. Cloud State took the top spot at the NSIC Championships with a total of 1,418 points, with Lindenwood following in second with 1,388 points. MSU Moorhead and Minnesota State rounded out the top four with 909.5 and 862.5 points, respectively. Northern State finished in fifth place with 517 points, while Nebraska-Kearney took sixth place with 308 points. Junior Ivanna Smirnova finished third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.59, while junior Emily Green claimed third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.48. Smirnova's time earned her an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Freshman Shelby Sechena took fifth place in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:56.32, while sophomore Alyssa Olson took seventh with a time of 18:08.83. Freshman Carley LeDoux claimed seventh place in the 200-yard breaststroke with a  mark of 2:27.62, with sophomore Emilie Berg following close behind in 10th place with a time of 2:31.20. The MSU 400-yard freestyle relay team of Green, Smirnova, sophomore Jade Ely and freshman Nicole Bean finished in third with a provisional qualifying time of 3:31.04. Junior Melissa Runquist took eighth place in the three meter diving event with a score of 350.45.

NORTHERN STATE
The distance swimmers began the night again for the Wolves, as Mikaela Waiflein recorded her highest personal finish of the meet in tenth place in the 1,650 freestyle. Waiflein hit the wall at 18:25.62 to mark a solid performance by her throughout the meet. Brianna Iverson also recorded her highest finish in the event in 16^th with a time of 19:00.73. Due to the illness of Peterson, Ashley LaFave was the lone wolf competing in the 100 freestyle. LaFave took 16^th in the event with a time of 54.87. Amanda Taylor continued her storied meet in night four breaking her third school record in as many days in the 200 backstroke. Taylor finished in ninth place overall with a time of 2:08.01. Julia Upshaw also place top twenty in the event, coming in at 2:18.77 in 16^th overall. Placing well in the breaststroke events again, was Eliza Jacob in 11^th with a time of 2:31.52 in the 200 meter.   The final day of competition was concluded by the 400 freestyle relay. The 'A' relay of Rhodes, Springer, Jacob and LaFave took fifth with a time of 3:43.32, while the 'B' relay of Mastel, Cvrk, Waiflein and Lindsey Wilson came in 11^th.  Amanda Taylor awaits to hear her fate and potential place in the NCAA National meet after recording a B qualifying time on Saturday. Taylor will hear if she has made the meet February 24, stayed tuned for more in her.