Results

ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University swimming and diving team is off to a rip roaring start this 2017-18 season. Two weeks after winning the MIAC Pentathlon, the Wildcats earned another impressive victory, this time in a dual meet against the University of Minnesota-Morris. St. Kate's earned 192 combined points in the meet and beat the Cougars by a final score of 192-107.

Franceska Hernandez-Nietling (Kansas City, Mo. / Bishop Miege) continued to impress in her rookie season with the Wildcats. The first year from Kansas City won every race she competed in as an individual and was a member of the winning 400-yard medley relay team. Hernandez-Nietling won the 100 yard breaststroke by over seven seconds thanks to a time of 1:10.72, which is the eight fastest time in school history. She also took home the gold in the 100 yard butterfly and 200 IM with times of 1:03.62 and 2:20.17 respectively. Both of those times also rank in the Wildcats top-10 lists.

Teammate Mary Jane Voss (Mequon, Wis.) was no slouch in the pool either. The senior took second in both the 100 fly and 200 IM behind Hernandez-Nietling thanks to times of 1:04.45 and 2:23.03. Voss also won the 200 yard freestyle race thanks to a time of 2:04.10.

Several other Wildcats looked strong in the team's home debut on Saturday. First year Charlotte Green (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) had a strong day in the pool for the Wildcats with two individual wins and two relay swims for the Wildcats. Green was the leadoff swimmer for St. Kate's 400 medley relay team and won both the 100 and 200 yard backstroke races. The first won the 100 with a time of 1:03.15, while her time in the 200 (2:20.79) was three seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Sophomore McKenna Peterson (Cameron Park, Calif. / St. Francis) recorded two top-5 finished as an individual Saturday afternoon, taking second in the 200 yard freestyle (2:07.15) and fourth in the 200 yard backstroke (2:27.04). Peterson also was the team's leadoff swimming in the 200 yard freestyle relay, which St. Kate's won with a time of 1:46.85.

Gabby Page (Cottage Grove, Minn. / Park) was the top diver for St. Kate's Saturday afternoon. The junior finished third in the 1-meter event with a score of 182.20 and won the 3-meter event with a score of 210.80.

Thanks to multiple top finishes from multiple student-athletes, the Wildcats earned 192 points during the meet and beat UM-Morris 192-107. St. Kate's will return to competition on Saturday, November 11, when it travels to Macalester College for the Roger Ahlman Invite. The diving events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. while the races will begin around 1 p.m.