The men’s swimming and diving team walked away with one victory Saturday after taking on St. Cloud State University at home and UW-Steven’s Point at Steven’s Point.

The Blugolds also recorded five finishes of third place or better.

“We weren’t ready for the meet, but with that being said we had some good swims,” said Alyssa Trainor, the assistant swimming coach for the Blugolds. “Overall, I’m pretty happy with what we did, it was a good race to see where we are and where we need to go with the next meet.”

Senior Alex Card had the men’s top finish with a time of 2:02.88 in the 200-yard individual medley. Card came in third in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of senior Ben Epperly, freshman Reed Molander, senior Aaron Lickel and senior Spencer Rose finished second with a time of 3:20.80.

Women

The women’s swimming and diving team finished with three victories and recorded 10 finishes of third place or better.

Diver Sara Axness led the women’s team with two wins in the one and three-meter events with scores of 288.50 and 297.20. Her score on the three-meter board was a new pool record, beating out Blugold Sara Mulatz, who has held the record of 293.20 since 1995. Axness’s score was also one point shy of the school record, which Mulatz also holds.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Axness said.  “Saturday was my second meet after three years off so the fact that I was able to make a comeback to the sport was really exciting.”

Axness took a break from diving to concentrate on her academics, but has returned with a bang. She was pleasantly surprised to beat a pool record, but thought the whole diving team needed recognition for their efforts against St. Cloud.

“Everybody went out there and did what we know how to do,” she said. “We had a lot of really good dives so now we need to focus on keeping the momentum up.”

Freshman Elissa Hermsen also took home a win in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.57.

“Elissa did really well, she actually got named UW-Eau Claire Athlete of the Week for swimming so that’s pretty cool,” Trainor said. “It’s always nice to see some freshmen stand out.”

Hermsen was also a part of the 400-yard freestyle team with teammates, sophomore Allison Hable, sophomore Ellie Hostetler and senior Abby Meyer. They took second with a time of 3:50.43.

Next weekend, the Blugolds will be at home to challenge Gustavus Adolphus College of Minnesota and Northern Michigan University.