Two top freshmen for the Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team attempted to extend their 2025-26 campaign this past weekend, heading to the Midwest Invitational at the University of Chicago in a bid to lower their times to qualify for the NCAA DII Women's Swimming and Diving championships in March.

Sasha Babenko competed in four races for the Chargers, and continued an impressive freshman season with a new personal best of 52.46 in the 100 freestyle. That time also is the fourth-fastest time in program history in the event, placing Babenko in the top 10 all-time at Hillsdale College in her seventh event in just her first season with the program. Babenko also swam a time of 57.25 in the 100 backstroke, a time of 24.26 in the 50 freestyle and a time of 5:11.63 in the 500 freestyle.

Avery May, a standout freshman for the Chargers this season along with Babenko, also competed in three events in Chicago. May swam a time of 5:07.44 in the 500 freestyle, a time of 4:40.64 in the 400 individual medley, and a time of 1:08.12 in the 100 breaststroke.

Both Babenko and May now await the official announcement of the NCAA DII Swimming and Diving Championship field this Wednesday, Feb. 25, to find out if they will be competing for All-American honors three weeks from now. If the pair qualify for the NCAA Championship, they would travel to Evansville, Indiana and the Deaconess Aquatic Center on March 10 through 14 to compete. Even if the two fall short of the field, they've had a promising start to their careers and will be real contenders to earn bids as sophomores in next season's competition.