The Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team had a historic weekend in Grand Rapids, setting four school records and earning six NCAA DII B-cuts in a stellar performance at the three day Don Kimble Invite hosted by Davenport University.

The Chargers rode those performances to a third-place finish at the competitive seven-team invite, beating host Davenport and finishing behind champion Wayne State and runner-up Saginaw Valley State by a narrow margin. 

While several Hillsdale swimmers had great weekends, the meet was a breakthrough one for freshman Ella Schafer, who was a part of three of the four school records. Schafer took runner-up honors in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:51.66 that obliterated the old school record of 1:53.29 set by Katherine Heeres in 2019. The time also was a B-Cut time, meaning it puts Schaefer in contention to make the NCAA DII National Championship in the event in the spring.

Schafer also was a part of two record-setting relays for the Chargers, including a title-winning 800 freestyle relay along with freshman Matilyn Wilhelmsen and seniors Elise Mason and Megan Clifford that finished in 7:36.94, and a 400 freestyle relay along with Wilhelmsen, Clifford and senior Lucia Ruchti that took third in 3:30.78. Both times set next school records for the Chargers. Schafer also finished fourth in the 100 freestyle in 52.85, and swam legs in the 200 freestyle relay that finished third in 1:37.45 along with freshman Kathryn Vieceli, Ruchti and Clifford, and in the 200 medley relay that finished fourth in 1:47.09 along with senior Joanna Burnham, freshman Ella Malone and Ruchti.

Along with those record-setting efforts, senior Elise Mason also had an excellent weekend. Along with her relay exploits, Mason also broke her own school record with an NCAA B-Cut time in the 500 freestyle, finishing runner up in 5:00.96, and also posted a B-Cut time in the 1,650 freestyle in a time of 16:59.80, less than a second off her school record in that event, to take second as well. She was closely followed in both events by Wilhelmsen, who placed third in the 1,650 free with her first B-cut time of 17:11.15, and also swam a B-Cut time to finish fourth in the 500 freestyle in 5:02.43. Along with her two B-cut times and her record-setting relay, Mason also swam on a 400 medley relay that took fifth in 3:56.14 along with Burnham, Malone and Ruchti.

Wilhelmsen also took fourth behind Schafer in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:54.34, just ahead of Clifford who finished fifth in 1:54.66. That was Clifford's fourth top five finish of the weekend in individual events in a strong performance for the senior and returning All-American. Clifford took second in the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:02.69 and her prelim time of 2:02.45 bettered her B-cut time in that event. The senior also earned a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly in 56.85, with Malone taking fifth for the Chargers in the same event in 58.28, and Clifford also finished third in the 50 freestyle in 24.58, just ahead of Ruchti in fifth in 24.60.

Senior Joanna Burnham also had multiple top five individual finishes for the Chargers, taking runner-up honors in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.20, and placing fifth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:26.92.

The meet was a great finish to 2024 for the Chargers, who now take the next six weeks off from competition for winter break and further training before returning to the pool on Jan. 11 for a home meet against Ashland and Saginaw Valley State. Hillsdale will look to build off these performances heading into the second half of the season with an eye toward peaking for the G-MAC/MEC Championships in February and the NCAA DII Championships in March.