ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bears will compete in their fifth event of the 2021-22 season at the Augustana Invitational in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Midco Aquatic Center from Thursday November 18 to Saturday November 20.

All three days will have two sessions with Thursday slated for 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., while Friday and Saturday will start at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. This will be the biggest invitational that they will see yet, with 14 teams participating with six from the Northern Sun and a pair of NCAA Division I programs among others.

The Bears last competed in the SMSU Triangular where they look to improve from their losses to Augsburg University and Southwest Minnesota State this past Saturday. There were a combined six individual top three finishes from the Golden Bears at the Triangular. Farida Maher had a pair of first place finishes including a nearly 1-minute win in the 1000-yard freestyle while Charly Horn took home first place honors in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Head coach Rachel Busch says, "The beauty of invites is that seed times are more even across lanes, which isn't always the case when only two or three teams are present. At this meet we will see teams from NCAA Divisions I & II, NAIA and NJCAA. All girls will be competing in engaging races and I am greatly anticipating their hard work play out in season-best times. We are entering this meet rested, ready for some great swims. Farida Maher, Charly Horn and Laura Vekony are the swimmers to look out for. Farida is seeded in the top-10 in two of her events, the 500 free and the 1,650 free."

Teams competing in the event include: #24 Augustana, Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State, Northern State, South Dakota State, Southwest Minnesota State, South Dakota, UMary, Sioux Falls, College of Saint Mary, Iowa Central CC, Iowa Lakes CC, Jamestown and Minnesota Morris.