The St. Catherine University swimming and diving team has been off to a great start with multiple individuals contributing to the team's early-season success. Despite losing its lone dual meet of the weekend to the College of Saint Benedict, first-year Katie Rising (Bismark, N.D./Century) proved to be the swimmer of impact for the Wildcats this week. For her efforts, she has been named the Wildcat Athlete-of-the-Week.Â
In one of her best events, Rising continued to be solid winning the 200 Backstroke with a time of 2:21.31 that was just off her season-best. She out-touched the next competitor from Saint Benedict by two-hundredths of a second for the win. This season, Rising already ranks in the top 15 in the MIAC in the event.Â
Rising also had a strong finish in the 200 Butterfly with a second-place finish behind teammate Alissa Ellingson. She clocked a new career-best time of 2:25.35 that was nearly five seconds better than her previous best time. The first-year also took third in the 200 Individual medley with a time of 2:28.44 and swam the lead-off backstroke leg of the 200 Medley Relay that placed second with a time of 1:57.84.Â
Rising and the remainder of the Wildcats will take a week off before returning to aciton for the final time in 2015. They compete in a three-day invite hosted by St. Cloud State University beginning Friday, Dec. 4 in Rochester, Minnesota.Â
