Elkhart, Ind. - The Quincy University women's swim team competed at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships this week (Feb. 11-15). The Hawks doubled their score from last year, finishing with 399 points and taking a ninth place finish in the ten-team field.
The event kicked off Tuesday night with the 800 free relay. The Hawks came within .20 seconds of the record they set at the mid-season meet, swimming a 7:57.11 and placing 9th, courtesy of Bella Sparrow,
Chantal Tiesinga,
Elisa Armentia Moliner, and
Ariaa Sheth.
Wednesday's events involved the 200 IM, 50 freestyle, and 1,000 freestyle, with the night capped off with the 200 medley relay.
Olga Pucarevic was the top Hawk in the preliminary round for the 200 IM, swimming her best time at 2:12.54.
Ellie Benjamin and
Nancy Olson finished within milliseconds of each other at 2:16.34 and 2:16.46 respectively. The Hawks had a crew of swimmers compete in the 50 freestyle.
Vanja Vrbanec and
Shelby Smith finished one hundredth of a second apart, Vrbanec finishing ahead at 25.23.
Angelina Pagliaccio and
Megan Schill finished near each other at 25.60 and 25.73 respectively while
Hailey Perales and
Claire McDaris rounded out the group at 26.46 and 26.70.
The morning session concluded with the 1,000 freestyle event.
Elisa Armentia Moliner finished in 11:02.22, giving her the 25th best time in the event.
Cassie Rankin stayed close with the sophomore, finishing just three seconds behind at 11:05.12. The final events of Wednesday were the 200 medley relays. Quincy's top quad on the women's side swam a 1:47.16, the best in program history.
Faith Cummings, Sparrow, Pucarevic, and Vrbanec jumped from 14th seed to a 6th place finish in the event.
Pucarevic started Thursday morning off with a 57.26 time int he 100 butterfly, securing her spot in the B-final as a freshman. She then shaved her time down to 56.63 seconds, placing 14th in the pool. Bella Sparrow and
Ariaa Sheth swam their way into the Top 24 in the 200 freestyle with times of 1:58.08 and 1:58.45 respectively. Sparrow was able to shave her time down to 1:55.55 in the final, her second fastest time this season and the second best in program history.
The 400 medley relay of Armentia Moliner, Cummings, Pucarevic, and Sheth finished ninth overall at 3:59.04.
Friday started off with the 500 freestyle swim with Armentia Moliner qualifying for the C-final in the event and shaving 2 seconds off her preliminary time with a 5:12.01 finish. Sparrow and Pucarevic found themselves in the evening finals in the 100 backstroke. Sparrow gained 12 points for the Hawks with a 58.47 in the B-final and Pucarevic secured seven points with a 57.83 in the C-final.
Cummings was the lone Hawk in the 100 breaststroke finals Friday evening with a 1:07.43 mark, her fastest of the season.
Ellie Benjamin topped the 200 fly C-final with a 2:12.01, just hundredths of a second off from the record she set at the beginning of the season. Malarney joined her in the final, swimming a 2:14.40, the two freshmen gaining 12 points for the Hawks in the event. Quincy's quad of
Shelby Smith, Rankin, Sheth, and Vrbanec finished their fastest time of the season with a 1:38.61 in the 200 freestyle relay, finishing ninth overall.
The final day of the championship started with three sprints, followed by the mile swim. Sparrow finished a 52.40 in the preliminaries for the 100 freestyle, good for a spot in the finals rounds. Sparrow hit a similar mark, this time going 52.42 seconds in the swim. Sparrow had a quick turnaround before placing 14th in the 200 backstroke, shaving two seconds off her prelim time at 2:06.14. Armentia Moliner competed in the C-final in the event, posting a 2:10.79 in the backstroke.
Cummings broke her 2:34 streak in the 200 breaststroke, a mark she's hit four times this season, by swimming a 2:33.89, barely missing the 24th spot for a chance to swim in the finals. Armentia Moliner was one of three Hawks to compete in the mile swim, finishing 14th at 18:07.18.
The Hawks finished the week with the 400 free relay, swimming a 3:34 flat, courtesy of Sparrow, Pucarevic, Olson, and Sheth.
The Hawks made great strides in just a year, with double the amount of swimmers in finals heats, and more than doubling their total point score from 2024.
