The Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team looks to the Don Kimble Invite at the midpoint of every season as a benchmark for where the Chargers stand.
If the 2025 edition of the meet, held in East Kentwood, Michigan, is any indication, the Chargers are in a good place as they hit the back half of the season.
Hillsdale had one of its best-ever showings at the meet, taking runner-up behind Saginaw Valley State and edging host Davenport and conference rival Ashland in the standings despite not fielding divers in the event.
Part of that success came from strong individual performances, as Hillsdale broke four school records and set two NCAA DII B-cut marks in the event.
Freshman
Avery May had one of those B-cut marks with a runner-up finish in the 500 freestyle in 5:02.87, the sixth-fastest time in that race in Hillsdale history, and May also swam a leg on the event-winning and school record-setting 400 free relay along with
Sasha Babenko,
Ella Malone, and
Ella Schafer. That relay finished in 3:29.24 and was Hillsdale's lone event victory in the highly competitive meet.
May also swam the second-fastest 400 individual medley in program history, in 4:29.30, to take runner-up honors in that event, and also took seventh in the 1,650 freestyle in 18:12.52. May also teamed up with Babenko,
Rylee Harris and
Inez McNichols on a 200 freestyle relay that tied for third place in 1:37.69.
The other B-cut time came from Schafer, a sophomore, who took runner-up honors in the 200 freestyle with a B-cut time of 1:52.81. Schafer also placed third in the 100 free in 52.36, fifth in the 200 individual meldey in 2:10.36, and was a part of both the 400 free relay that set a school record and a 200 medley relay that set a school record of 1:44.82 in prelims, along with Malone, Babenko and
Kate Potwardowski. Schafer also teamed with Malone, Babenko and Potwardowski to finish third in the 400 medley relay in at time of 3:51.85.
Babenko, a freshman, was a part of both school record-setting relays and set two school records of her own individually, taking runner-up in the 100 backstroke in a new school record time of 56.21, and third in the 200 backstroke in a record-setting time of 2:03.06. Both marks broke records in those event set by former Charger great Katherine Heeres in 2019. Babenko also took runner-up honors in the 200 IM in 2:08.90, the sixth-fastest time in program history, and fourth in the 100 butterfly in 56.73, the third-fastest time in program history.
Along with her relay work, Malone, a sophomore, was fifth in the 200 butterfly (2:13.78) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (59.30) and the 100 butterfly (57.53) for the Chargers. She also teamed with McNichols, Harris and
Lauren Kamp on a 200 Medley relay that finished sixth in the event final in 1:48.46.
McNichols, a junior, took runner-up honors in the 200 butterfly in 2:10.89, and fellow junior
Isabel Ondracek took fourth in the 1,650 freestyle (17:57.02) and seventh in the 500 freestyle (5:13.00) for Hillsdale.
Kate Potwardowski placed sixth in the 100 breastroke in 1:06.97, fellow freshman
Rylee Harris placed sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:55.73) and
Lauren Kamp took seventh in both the 100 breaststroke (1:07.12) and 200 breaststroke (2:28.51).
The finish sends Hillsdale into the winter break on a high note. The Chargers will travel to Florida for training over Christmas Break, before returning for the second half of the season, beginning with a trip to Saginaw Valley State on Jan. 10 to take on the Cardinals and Ashland in a double-dual.
