It may be early in the 2015-16 season, but the St. Catherine University swimming and diving team couldn't have asked for a much better start. In its first weekend of back-to-back meets, the Wildcats scored an impressive dual with over the University of Minnesota-Morris Friday before finishing second at the Hamline University Invite Saturday. Few members of the team are swimming as well as Mary Jane Voss (Mequon, Wis.) who has shown her sophomore year may be even more impressive than last season. For her strong performance this weekend, Voss has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week.Â
Friday, Voss gained big points for the Wildcats against the Cougars winning two individual events. First, Voss out-touched the competition in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:07.97 that is just over two seconds off her career-best time. Then, she swam a solid time of 5:44.97 in the 500 Freestyle to capture first.Â
Voss continued to log a ton of distance when she swam a new career-best time in the 1000 Freestyle clocking in at 11:49.03 – the third-fastest time on the day against tough Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conferernce (MIAC) competition. Later, Voss placed seventh in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:06.75 that was also just two seconds from her career-best.Â
Saturday's competition also allowed the Wildcats to swim off events for the first time in the season. Voss continued to shine outside her comfort zone with a time of 1:21.35 that was just over six seconds from her career-best in the 100 Breaststroke to place 13th. She also swam a solid split in the breaststroke on the team's 200 Medley Relay that kicked off the meet.Â
Voss and the remainder of the Wildcats return to action this weekend with back-to-back meets. Friday, the Wildcats compete at the University of St. Thomas JoAnn Andregg Invite at 6 p.m. Saturday, the team heads to the Macalester College Roger Ahlmann Invite which begins at 1 p.m. in St. Paul.Â
