For the sixth-consecutive season, the St. Catherine University swimming and diving team placed in the top six at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships this weekend at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The Wildcats wouldn't have been able to pull off this achievement, though, if it weren't for a surprising record-setting performance from Sydney Wenner (Cold Spring, Minn./St. John's Preparatory) in the final session Saturday evening. For her performances at the conference meet, Wenner has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week.Â
Heading into the final day, Wenner had already been a huge part of the Wildcats' success at the meet. Saturday morning, the sophomore qualified for the finals in the 200 Butterfly after swimming the seventh fastest time clocking a career-best 2:12.27. But she shocked the entire finals field when she swam to a third-place All-MIAC finish with a new career-best and school-record time of 2:09.28. She crushed the previous record time of 2:11.30 set by former MIAC Champion Steffanie Jurusik in 2013.Â
In addition to her strong final swim, Wenner was just as impressive Friday she used a career-best clocking of 59.25 in 100 Butterfly the prelims to place eighth and nab a spot in the finals. Then, in the finals, Wenner bettered her performance fom the morning session with a career-best time of 58.76 in the 100 Butterfly to place seventh – her time was just .16 from the St. Kate's record in the event.
Not only did Wenner swim strong individually, she also was a part of the 200 Freestyle and 400 Medley Relay teams that both placed seventh in the respective races with season-best times.Â
Wenner and the rest of the Wildcat swimmers have concluded their season, while MIAC Diver-of-the-Year Jenna Nagy will take her shot at qualifying for the NCAA Championships when she competes at the NCAA Regional Diving Zones this weekend at the University of Chicago.Â
