An excellent performance on the final day of the 2026 G-MAC/MEC Championships helped Hillsdale pull away from Ashland and secure a runner-up finish as a team on Friday.

The Chargers used strong finishes in every event to finish with 1,514 points over the four-day meet and place second behind Findlay for the fourth consecutive year. Hillsdale maintains its streak of finishing first or second as a team in the G-MAC/MEC since joining the league in 2017-18.

Hillsdale's top performer on the night was freshman Sasha Babenko, who broke her own school record with a 2:02.37 to finish runner-up in the 200 backstroke. That time is a NCAA B-cut time and will give Babenko another event to be considered for qualification to the NCAA DII Championships in March in Evansville, along with her prior B-cut in the 100 backstroke.

Rylee Harris, another freshman, took fifth in the 200 backstroke as well for Hillsdale in 2:07.99, the seventh-fastest 200 backstroke in program history. Irene Del Castro placed 12th in the event in 2:14.21 and Sasha Alles took 15th for the Chargers in 2:16.83 as well.

Hillsdale also got a runner-up finish from freshman Avery May, who finished the 1,650 freestyle in 17:48.37 in her fourth second-place effort in an individual event on the weekend. Teammate Isabel Ondracek took fifth in the 1,650 in 18:03.89, and Del Castro placed 11th in 18:54.49 as well. May also teamed with sophomore Ella Malone, junior Alyson Early, and sophomore Ella Schafer to place second in the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay, in 3:30.41.

The Chargers had a great showing in the 200 breaststroke, with five athletes in the top nine. Matilyn Wilhelmsen led the way for the Chargers with a third-place finish in 2:24.68, while junior Lauren Kamp took fourth in 2:26.18, and Yvonne Botha placed seventh in 2:30.29. Kate Powardowski placed eighth in 2:33.37 as well for the Chargers, while senior Rotem Andegeko took ninth out of the B final in 2:30.61.

Schafer also earned a third place finish in the 100 freestyle in 52.60, with teammate Ella Malone placing eighth in 53.68 and Alyson Early placing ninth in 53.45.

The finish is an encouraging one for Hillsdale, which scored nearly 100 more points in the meet over its finish at the 2025 G-MAC/MEC Championships. The Chargers got stronger despite fielding a team with only one senior, and while Andegeko will be missed, Hillsdale has almost all of its firepower slated to return for the 2026-27 season.

Hillsdale has four swimmers -- freshmen May and Babenko, and sophomores Wilhelmsen and Schafer -- with at least one B-cut time, and all four are still in contention for a berth to the NCAA DII Championships from March 10-14 in Evansville, Indiana. All four swimmers will find out if they made the cut when the field for the 2026 Championships is announced on Feb. 25.