ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul swimming and diving returns to action locally this Friday and Saturday against the St. Catherine Wildcats and the University of Mary Marauders at the Butler Center. Friday's double-dual is scheduled for 5:30 p.m, and action will conclude at noon on Saturday with a pentathlon invite against the Marauders and Wildcats.

Friday's double-dual will consist of a 16-event lineup, while Saturday's pentathlon with feature the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle and 100 IM swims. 
 
"It'll have been three weeks since our last competition and the women have been putting in a lot of hard work at the pool and weight room during that time," stated head coach Rachel Busch. "We are excited to see their hard work pay off with this weekend's meets at St. Kate's."
 
LAST TIME OUT
Northern State Relay Meet: 4th of 4 | 86 Points
The Golden Bears kicked off the season with a relay meet against Southwest Minnesota State, Northern State and the University of Mary.
 
After 11 events, the SMSU Mustangs stood atop the standings with 106 points, followed by the NSU Wolves with 104 points. Mary and CSP were neck and neck in the final standings, but the Marauders were able to edge the Golden Bears by only a pair of points with 88 total.
 
Concordia finished with four runner-up finishes, with several newcomers contributing to the success in the opening meet.
 
In the 3x100 breaststroke relay, the team of Charly Horn, Sierra Sherry and Laura Vekony added the first 10 points of the meet after topping Mary and NSU by less than a second.
 
The second runner-up finish was in the 400-medley relay. Freshman Sophie Leo was accompanied by returners Horn, Chloe Rihon and Farida Maher in a nail-biting finish that saw them fall to Northern State by less than two seconds.
 
The team of Marianna Perna, Sierra Sherry and Maher added another 10 points in the 3x500 freestyle relay. In contrast, Savanna Honan, Horn, Zoe Hiers and Rihon added the night's final second-place finish with 4:31.15 in the 400 medley IM relay.
 
NSU and Mary Double Dual: 1-1
Concordia competed well in the first dual contest of the season after finishing with a trio of first-place finishes and defeating the Mary Marauders for the first time in dual action to even the series at 1-1.
 
Caitlyn Greenwalt made history this morning as she became the first Golden Bear diver to compete. The sophomore collected a score of 201.08 to establish the first school record in the event.
 
Hildebrand shined in her first dual as a Golden Bear. She collected a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, just behind Michaela Desmond of Mary by only one second.
 
A pair of Golden Bears battled in the 100-yard breaststroke to finish first and second in the race. Rihon was able to outlast Horn in a photo finish by just hundredths of a second with a time of 1:13.12.
 
Maher also performed well in today's meet to begin her third season in the Navy and Gold. The junior collected a pair of second-place finishes behind Victoria Murillo of Mary, one of the best returning distance swimmers in the NSIC.
 
HISTORY AGAINST THE WILDCATS
The two programs are meeting for the second time in dual competition dating back to December 11, 2021. St. Kate's claimed the first meeting between the two teams, claiming the dual 187-42. Maher and Horn each claimed first-place finishes in the meet. Last season, the two competed at the St. Kate's pentathlon, where the Wildcats dominated the field with 448 points, while CSP finished third just behind St. Benedicts.
 
HISTORY AGAINST THE MARAUDERS
The two programs have met twice in dual competition dating back to October 1, 2021, and the series is currently tied at 1-1. In the first meeting between the two squads, Mary claimed the dual with a score of 146-52 en route to a sweep as they bested the Northern State Wolves, 119-85. However, the Golden Bears bounced back on opening weekend this season with their first victory over the Marauders, 117.50-92.5. Greenwalt made the diving debut and won the 1M dive, while Hildebrand and Rihon added first-place finishes.