Quincy, Ill. - The Quincy University women's swim team improved on their 2023 showing at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships last week (Feb. 7-10). The women swam eleven Top 24 swims this go-around, breaking multiple records and beginning to make a name for themselves in the GLVC. At the end, the Hawks ranked 10th in a league full of nationally-bound swimmers.

The ladies have had a great showing at the GLVC Championships in the first half of trials. The women's relays have been giving the Hawks their points this go around with the top relays placing ninth for the women's 800 free relay (Olson, Tiesinga, Armentia Moliner, and McDaris) and placing eighth in the 200 medley (Sparrow, Cummings, Olson, Sheth)

The most exciting session for the Hawks so far was the Thursday morning session, where Quincy had two girls qualify for Top 24 heats and broke a record twice. Ariaa Sheth broke the 200-yard freestyle record at 1:57.99 before Izabella Sparrow shaved three seconds off her time just one heat later.

In the evening, Nancy Olson started things off for the Hawks with a 21st place finish in the 100 butterfly at 59.60 seconds. Sparrow raced the 200 freestyle in the C-heat for the finals and came one second short of Brittany Walenczyk's record of 1:58.70 at 1:59.70. 

Friday's events featured Sparrow finishing in 17th place with a 59.41 in the 100 backstroke and Faith Cummings landing in the Top 24 with a 1:08.14 100-yard breaststroke. Olson and Lilli Dempewolf finished 21st and 23rd in the 200 butterfly respectively. Olson hit a 2:28.16 mark while Dempewolf swam a 2:34.15. The quad of Megan Schill, Angelina Pagliaccio, Clare McDaris, and Cummings finished ninth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.52. 

The final day of the conference showdown brought the Hawks three more Top 24 finishes. Sparrow rounded out her championships with a 20th place finish in the 100 freestyle at 52.37. Elisa Armentia Moliner, named Quincy's swimmer of the meet, dropped 42 seconds off her previous season best in the 1650 freestyle and placed 14th. She then swam the 200 backstroke finals at a 2:10.52 and finished Top 20 in the event. 

The women finished off the conference championship run with a 400 freestyle relay, finishing eighth with a crew of McDaris, Sheth, Olson, and Sparrow at 3:36.36.

The Hawks finished with 280 points, over 100 more points than the first-year Hawks did in 2023. Megan Schill recieved the James R. Spalding honor at the meet. Quincy placed ninth in a tough pool of nationally-qualifying swimmers and look to build on the programs early success next season.