The Belles finished their season over the weekend when they placed sixth overall at the MIAA championships in Holland, Mich.
Senior Audrey Dalrymple led the Belles on Friday with her third-place performance. The captain took third in the preliminary round of the 100-yard freestyle and matched that finish in the finals of the event with a time of 1:07.52.
The 200-yard medley relay team, featuring Dalrymple, senior Megan Price, junior Kristyn Gerbeth and freshman Anna Nolan, finished second in the preliminaries with a time of 1:55.31. That time was good enough for a top-five all-time Saint Mary's performance in the event. Later in the final round, the relay team posted a nearly identical time and finished in seventh.
Nolan had other strong efforts on the day in the 100-yard backstroke. She finished eighth in the preliminaries and sixth in the finals with times of 1:02.17 and 1:02.06, respectively. Both times now stand as top-five marks in Saint Mary's history.
Price had another top individual finish for the Belles with a seventh-place effort in the 200-yard freestyle.
Gerbeth, junior Genevieve Spittler, junior Liz Litke, senior Katie Donovan and freshman Julianne Divine all earned points for the team by reaching the consolation finals of their respective events.
Saturday was the final day of action for the championships and although the Belles couldn't muster together a final surge up the standings, they showed some strong individual performances.
Dalrymple continued to lead the pack as she won the preliminaries of the 200-yard breaststroke and finished second in the finals. In both races, she had NCAA B-cut times.
Nolan also continued her impressive performances. The freshman set a new school record in 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.74. Nolan also finished ninth in the 100-yard freestyle finals and her time of 55.15 is in the top-five all-time in Saint Mary's history.
Spittler earned points for the Belles in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard fly with finishes in 16th and 10th, respectively.
Saint Mary's closed out the competition with a strong performance in the final event of the championships. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Dalrymple, Nolan, Price and Donovan turned in another top-five all-time finish with its fifth-place showing.
Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu
