The Saginaw Valley State University made history on Friday afternoon (10/10) in just participating in, and hosting its first-ever collegiate swimming & diving competition. The Lady Cardinals continued to add to that history throughout their first meet as well, claiming the program’s first two victories in a tri-meet with Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponents Tiffin University and Malone University.
SVSU defeated Malone by a score of 140.00 to 98.00 and posted victory over Tiffin by a 134.00 to 87.00 count.
Tyara Green got things going for Saginaw Valley, claiming the team’s first victory in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 24.93.
Teammate Rebeca Martinez was quick to match Green with a win of her own. Martinez was dominant in the 200 yard IM, posting a time of 2:10.28 to post a 10-second victory over her nearest competitor. She would continue her great performance in the meet and win two more events before the day was done. Martinez earned the top-spot in the 200 Yard Butterfly with a mark of 2:12.13 and the 500 Yard Freestyle as well, turning in a time of 5:15.57.
Breanne Bell put another “W” on the board in the 100 Yard Freestyle when she put up a time of 55:98 to win the event.
SV got another victory in the 200 Yard Yard Backstroke when Shaked Bachar swam to a time of 2:15.66.
Wilhelmina Francisco was the top finisher for Saginaw Valley in the One Meter Diving event, as she had a point total of 219.85 to finish in second place. Kathleen Murphy added another second place showing in a diving event for the Cardinals. She participated in the three meter dive, posting 187.75 points.
The ladies would continue and finish their first meet off in style. The 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team, consisting of Green, Melanie Soenksen, Kaleigh Kovac and Chelsea Harmon had a first-place finish by recording a time of 1:41.57 in the race.
The team will have a couple of weeks off until it competes in its next scheduled meet, which is set to take place at the Spire Center in Geneva, Ohio. SVSU will compete against Lake Erie and Ursuline in that meet, set to begin at 7:00 pm.
College Swimming News courtesy of SVSU.
