Mavericks share success at NSIC Championship
The Minnesota State women’s swim and dive team recently competed in the NSIC Championship this past weekend in Rochester, Minn. They placed second as a team, but there were plenty of Mavericks that won the conference in their own individual events. Head coach Nathan Owens was elated about his team’s performance.
“We had an outstanding week at the NSIC conference meet,” Owens said. “Everyone from our team competed with urgency and energy and the level of competition at the meet was great.”
Senior Cheyenne Rova placed first in the 100-meter freestyle. Rova also is the record holder for MSU and the NSIC in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle. Per Coach Owens, she had a vital part of the winning relays. MNSU placed first in four of the five relay events.
“All four of those relays are ranked going in the National meet next month,” said Owens.
Junior Taylor Bass also had, “the meet of her life,” per Owens. She broke school records in the 100-meter and 200-meter individual medley. She also owns the school record in the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly.
“Both Cheyenne and Taylor are in good position to be invited to the NCAA Championships in their events,” said Owens.
Other notable swimmers who are close to being invited are Juniors Cecilia Hake, Chelsea Calhoon, and Kylie Gaeth. The official invitation list for the NCAA Championships won’t be released until Feb. 21st.
The diving squad also had a great performance. The Mavs placed three divers in the top-8 on both the one and three meter dives. Three-time NSIC Diver of the Week, Freshman Jayci Klein, placed first on the 1-meter and second on the 3-meter.
“Jaycie was also named NSIC Diver of the Meet, which was an award given to the diver who scored the most points during the meet,” said Owens.
Owens added his praise for the women’s team this season.
“I was very pleased with the team’s performance, placing second overall behind St. Cloud. Moving forward the team is in a great position to score well at the National Meet and hopefully have some new All-Americans. It will be exciting to see if we are up for the challenge and can perform even better at the National meet,” said Owens.
In other news, sophomore Erica Ellstrom received the NSIC Elite 18 award for her outstanding performances in the pool and the classroom. Ellstrom, a native of Mankato, is the first MSU student athlete to receive this award this season. The NSIC Elite 18 Award recognizes the real principle of the student athlete by honoring those who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the NSIC Championship level while receiving the highest academic marks.
Ellstrom holds a 4.0 GPA in recreation, parks, and leisure services. She also finished 19th in the 1,000-meter freestyle, 20th in the 500-meter freestyle, and sixth as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay.