MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn - Concordia-St. Paul swimming and diving honored their first senior in program history, Laura Vekony, on Saturday afternoon during their double-dual against No. 24 Minnesota State and St. Thomas.
 
"Wow, what a momentous day for Golden Bear swim and dive. We are so proud to honor our program's first graduate, Laura Vekony," commented Head Coach Rachel Busch. "She has exhibited grace, leadership, and resilience throughout the unknowns of establishing a new program. We had a lot of fun honoring her today and are very grateful for her legacy in getting this program off the ground."
 
The Golden Bears will have a short break before returning to the pool on Feb.14-17 for the NSIC Swimming and Diving Championships in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Action from the Midco Aquatic Center will kick off with the first preliminary rounds at 10 a.m. and finals starting at 5:30 p.m.
 
CSP battled a pair of tough opponents in the No. 24 Minnesota State and Division I St. Thomas in their final meet of the regular season. The Golden Bears performed well as they collected six first-place finishes, but unfortunately fell to the Mavericks, 205-92, and the Tommies, 177-119.
 
Farida Maher led the Golden Bears with a trio of first-place finishes. The junior added momentum heading into the postseason with victories in the 100, 500 and 100-yard freestyles, events in which she was an NSIC All-Conference runner-up a season ago.
 
For the second straight week, Caitlyn Greenwalt swept the diving events for the Navy and Gold. The sophomore finished first in the three-meter dive with a score of 243.25 and capped off the meet with a victory in one-meter dive with a score of 231.35.
 
Freshman Sophie Leo was also impressive with three top-three finishes for the Golden Bears. She collected a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.43, while adding a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke and a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
 
In her final meet at Two Rivers Aquatic Center, Vekony collected a pair of top-10 finishes. The Budapest, Hungary native finished eighth in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:42.08 and added a 10th-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:23.79.
 
In the opening relay of the meet, the team of Leo, Chloe Rihon, Rebecca Hildebrand and Maher collected a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a final time of 1:51.36.
 
Action concluded with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Rebecca Hildebrand, Marianna Perna, Sierra Sherry and Emma Granovsky finished the relay fifth at 1:44.63, with the regular season officially ending. RESULTS
Minnesota State - 188.00 | St. Thomas - 112.00
St. Thomas - 177.00 | Concordia-St. Paul - 119.00
Minnesota State - 205.00 | Concordia-St. Paul - 92.00 RELAY RESULTS
4th: 200 Medley Relay (A), 1:51.36 (Sophie Leo, Chloe Rihon, Rebecca Hildebrand, Farida Maher)
 
12th: 200 Medley Relay (B), 1:58.48 (Zoe Hiers, Charly Horn, Savanna Honan, Emma Granovsky)
 
13th: 200 Medley Relay (C), 2:08.05 (Deanna Ringler, Sierra Sherry, Laura Vekony, Giulia Cury)
 
5th: 200 Freestyle Relay (A), 1:44.63 (Rebecca Hildebrand, Marianna Perna, Sierra Sherry, Emma Granovsky)
 
11th: 200 Freestyle Relay (B), 1:54.04 (Savanna Honan, Deanna Ringler, Giulia Cury, Laura Vekony)  INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
 *Top-10 Finishes
 
Giulia Cury
9th: 500 Freestyle, 6:04.31
 
Caitlyn Greenwalt
1st: 3-Meter Dive, 243.25
1st: 1-Meter Dive, 231.35
 
Emma Granovsky
7th: 50 Freestyle, 25.68
 
Rebecca Hildebrand
7th: 500 Freestyle, 5:35.61
 
Savanna Honan
5th: 200 Butterfly, 2:18.68
 
Zoe Hiers
9th: 100 Backstroke, 1:08.10
9th: 200 Backstroke, 2:24.27
 
Charly Horn
3rd: 100 Breaststroke, 1:10.57
4th: 200 Breaststroke, 2:33.75
 
Sophie Leo
1st: 50 Freestyle, 24.43
2nd:100 Backstroke, 59.79
3rd: 100 Freestyle, 53.96
 
Farida Maher
1st: 1000 Freestyle, 10:51.11
1st: 100 Freestyle, 52.68
1st: 500 Freestyle, 5:15.57
 
Marianna Perna
6th: 500 Freestyle, 5:34.36
8th: 200 Freestyle, 2:02.89
 
Chloe Rihon
7th: 1000 Freestyle, 11:34.58
8th: 200 Backstroke, 2:19.96
10th: 100 Breaststroke, 1:12.94
 
Sierra Sherry
10th: 200 Breaststroke, 2:49.06
 
Laura Vekony
8th: 1000 Freestyle, 11.42.08
10th: 200 Butterfly, 2:23.79