St. Thomas Picks Up Commitment From Breaststroker Megan Toal (2023)

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Megan Toal has announced her commitment to swim and study at the University of St. Thomas this upcoming fall. Toal is a native of San Clemente, California, where she recently graduated from San Juan Hills High School.

“I chose the University of St. Thomas because the coach and team were very welcoming, supportive, encouraging, and fun. They represented everything I was looking for in a college swim team. I feel that I can become my best in this program.”

In addition to participating in high school swimming, Toal also trains and competes year-round with the San Clemente Aquatics Team. She primarily swims a mix of breaststroke, IM, and sprint freestyle. 

This spring Toal capped off her high school career at the CIF Southern Section Division I Championships. She earned 35th in the 100 breaststroke, posting a time of 1:11.57. Her best time in the event of 1:08.87 was set just a week before at the South Coast League Championships, where she finished 4th overall. Over the course of the past short course season, her time has improved by nearly three seconds.

Her 200 breaststroke is another event that has also seen huge improvements this season. She entered the year with a best time of 2:32.11, then dropped almost four seconds in December at the La Mirada Sectionals to post a time of 2:28.19. 

Top SCY Times:

• 100 free – 54.47
• 200 free – 1:59.11
• 100 breast – 1:08.87
• 200 breast – 2:28.19
• 200 IM – 2:13.59

St. Thomas, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, competes in the Summit League. The women finished 6th out of 8 teams at the 2023 Summit League Championships, with their highest scorer being breaststroker Grace Urkiel. 

Urkiel took 4th in the 100 breaststroke this year with a best time of 1:02.46, while in the 200 breast she finished 9th in 2:19.33. Ashley Plantenberg also advanced to finals in both events, as she took 21st in the 100 (1:06.26) and 18th in the 200 (2:24.96). Both will still be on campus for at least one more year. 

Toal is joined by Madeline Elseth, Sophia Hayes, Lucy Siedschlag, and Maggie Kolb in St. Thomas’ incoming class of 2027. The class is very freestyle heavy, with the outliers being Toal and Kolb, who leans towards the fly and IM events. 

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