WEST FARGO, ND -
Victoria Murillo capped off an all-time performance at the 2023 NSIC Championships with her fourth event title in four days. In the longest event of the week, Murillo dominated the 1650 yard freestyle, winning the event by over 10 seconds with a season-best time of 17:18.54. Murillo's victory in the 1650 free follows gold medal finishes in the 1000 free, 200 free, and 500 free.
By going a perfect four for four in her major events,
Victoria Murillo won the distinct honor of Swimmer of the Meet for the 2023 NSIC Championships.
Andrea Lee still holds the program record at 17:03.39 from the 2022 NSIC Championships. Murillo hit her fourth NCAA B standard in the event by coming in at under 17:20.73. Murillo added to her program record for career NSIC Championships with 12 total.
"We had four great days of racing from the team!" said Head Coach
Ryan Evans. "Before the meet, I challenged the team to move up from last year's results, place as many relays as possible in the top-8, and have both relays score in each relay. We finished 6th which improved on last year's 7th place finish, three of our five relays placed in the top-8, and all 10 relays scored points."
Jordn Wolsky hit a then career-best in the 100 IM prelims at 1:02.12. Wolsky improved even further Saturday night, placing 14th overall in the B heat finals and beating her earlier mark at 1:01.65.
Rylie Webb hit another personal best in the 100 IM finals with a 1:03.10 time, and
Michaela Desmond and
Marina Conde Revuelto finished shortly after at 1:03.88 and 1:08.09 respectively.
Breena DeLegge (53.60) and
Allie Elliott (55.68) both qualified for the C heat finals in the 100 free. Elliott's prelim mark was the junior's season-best in the event.
Breanna Lund (2:12.54) and
Teresa Cavanaugh (2:12.91) swam for season bests in the 200 backstroke prelims, both earning spots in the evening finals sessions.
Sarah Towey was just outside the top 24 with a season-best time of 2:18.67.
Lund later beat her prelim time for a new season-best mark finishing 15th in the 200 back finals at 2:12.24.
Korie Riely made the B heat finals with a season-best and team-best mark in the 200 breast prelims at 2:34.05. Riely earned the Marauders more points with yet another B heat finish, placing 15th with a 2:34.07 time.
Mikayla Brackin (2:34.79),
Rylie Webb (2:35.20), and
Elle Holland (2:43.32) finished shortly after for C heat qualifying marks.
Mariapocs Ruiz Martinez swam with a great effort in the 1650 prelims, placing 10th with a time of 19:27.83.
UMary closed the night and the meet on a strong note, claiming 8th place in the 400 free relays. The team of Murillo, DeLegge, Wolsky, and Riely swam a season-best 3:33.35. The team of Desmond, Cavanaugh, Elliott, and Ruiz Martinez earned UMary more points in the event with a 14th-place finish and a time of 3:42.71.
"This has been a challenging year for the ladies with a coach change in the middle of the season, but they responded well and I am very proud of their accomplishments," said Coach Evans.
The Marauders finished sixth of nine in the overall team rankings with 225 points through the four days.
1. Augustana University (M) 979.5
2. Minnesota State University 969
3. St Cloud State University (M) 793
4. University of Sioux Falls 554.5
5. Northern State University 281
6. University of Mary 225
7. Southwest Minnesota State Univ 154
8. Concordia University St Paul 131
9. MSU Moorhead 97
UP NEXT
The 2023 NCAA DII Championships will be held next month on March 8-11 in Indianapolis, IN.
Victoria Murillo has a strong chance of swimming in Indy with four B standard qualifying marks in each of her NSIC 1st-place finishes.
"It's an exciting time for UMary swimming, and we are motivated to build on this weekend's success!" said Coach Evans.
#marauders#
