MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - For the first time in St. Catherine history, the Wildcat swimming and diving team has finished the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships with a first-place team victory. The Wildcats' held the lead through the four-day event at the University of Minnesota Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center accumulating a team score of 700.5, 36.5 points ahead of the second-place team, the University of St. Thomas. Overall, St. Catherine finished the four-day event with fourteen first-place finishes with nine swimmers earning MIAC All-Conference Honors.

To go along with the first-place trophy, St. Catherine head coach Justin Zook was named MIAC Women's Coach of the Year for the third-consecutive season and sophomore Jordyn Wentzel was named MIAC Swimmer of the Year for the second-straight season. 

Wentzel's top performance of the meet came in the 200-yard breaststroke, where she broke the NCAA Division III record in the event with a time of 2:11.85 for a first-place finish for the second season in a row. The prior record of 2:12.20 had been in place for four-years as Wentzel also set a MIAC, meet and program record with an NCAA A Cut. 

St. Catherine opened the final evening session of the 2020 Championships with a first-place title in the 1,650-yard freestyle as Maggie Menso finished with a time of 17:01.23. Junior Molly McMahon finished the event in sixth place with a time of 18:17.52 just ahead of Tori Hagstrom in eighth with a time of 18:19.81. 

Amelia Baxley earned another first-place finish on Saturday evening, this time in the 200-yard backstroke finishing with a lifetime best 2:02.66. Rookie Gillian Durand finished in second-place coming in at 2:06.42 while Annie Voss was seventh at 2:08.23. 

Macy Klein was the co-champion in the 100-yard freestyle finishing with a time of 51.08. In sixth place was junior Sydney Grohman swimming a lifetime best time of 53.53 and in seventh was first-year Andrea Voelker swimming a lifetime best time of 53.58. 

Sophomore Hannah Svendsen finished the 200-yard butterfly with a second-place time of 2:06.81 coming back in the last 25-yards after falling to fourth after the first two turns. 

In the three-meter diving event, Emilee Lance completed her final event as a Wildcat with a 6-dive score of 283.60, in 16th place. 

In the final event of the 2020 Championships, St. Catherine relay team of Klein, Grohman, Menso, and Wentzel took home the title in the 400-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA B Cut Qualifying time of 3:29.14. 

Saturday Results

Event 29 - 1,650-yard freestyle
1. Menso, 17:01.23 | 2019 Selection Time
6. McMahon, 18:17.52
8. Hagstrom, 18:19.81
9. Peterson, 18:27.91
16. Laurie, 18.59.70

Event 31 - 200-yard backstroke
1. Baxley, 2:02.66 | LTB, 2019 Selection Time
2. Durand, 2:06.42 | LTB
7. Voss, 2:08.23 | LTB

Event 33 - 100-yard freestyle 
T1. Klein, 51.08 | 2019 Selection Time
6. Grohman, 53.53 | LTB
7. Voelker, 53.58 | LTB

Event 35 - 200-yard breaststroke
1. Wentzel, 2:11.85 | NCAA Division III Record, MIAC Record, Program Record, LTB, NCAA A Cut
9. Hernandez-Nietling, 2:25.19

Event 37 - 200-yard butterfly
2. Svendsen, 2:06.81 | LTB

Event 38 - Three-meter Dive
16. Emilee Lance, 283.60

Event 40 - 400-yard freestyle relay
1. Klein, Grohman, Menso, Wentzel - 3:29.14 | NCAA B Cut