BISMARCK, ND - The 2023-24 season gets underway this weekend for the University of Mary Swimming & Diving team. With a returning first-team NCAA All-American, a plethora of swimmers who made a splash last season, and a former standout swimmer who's displayed leadership taking over as coach, this year looks promising for the Marauders.
Abby Loel was just introduced last week as the next official head coach of UMary Swimming & Diving, but she will fit right into the program where she competed collegiately from 2018-2022. Loel was a team captain for the Marauders and brings over a decade of coaching experience at the club and university levels to this year's Marauders.
"Having the opportunity to come back and coach at my alma mater is very exciting for me," said Loel. "I feel very blessed to be back at a place where both virtue and sport are incorporated daily. It is truly an honor and I look forward to an incredible season."
Loel returns to the hill after spending a year as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Grand Canyon University. She will be joined by first-year coach
Jenny Unruh who will serve as the Marauders diving coach. Unruh was a local standout when she competed at Bismarck High School, earning all-conference and first-team all-state honors.
The pair take over for Ryan Evans who departed for a coaching opportunity at the NCAA Division 1 level at the University of Kansas.
The UMary Swimming & Diving team is coming off a very successful season, finishing 5-1 in head-to-head meets. The Marauders finished sixth at the NSIC Championships in 2023 where several Marauders contributed points.
"We are very excited to have an All-American swimmer, several highly competitive returners, and lots of new energy on the team as we bring six new swimmers and one new diver to the roster this year," said coach Loel about this year's team. "Continuing to build team culture and put in the work in and out of the pool gives us as a coaching staff and our athletes lots of confidence for this upcoming season."
Victoria Murillo earns NSIC Swimmer to Watch honors for the Marauders after a storybook year in 2022-23. Murrillo dominated during the regular season before a historic week at the NSIC Championships where she won Conference Swimmer of the Meet and four conference titles in the 1000, 200, 500, and 1650 freestyles.
Not settled, Murillo trained even harder to succeed at the NCAA Division II Championships in Indianapolis where she swam a school record 4:54.00 in the 500-yard free. The mark earned her a spot on the podium as a first-team All-American in the event, the first time a Marauder earned a first-team All-American in program history.
"Victoria has had an outstanding career here at the University of Mary thus far," said coach Loel. "Being named first-team NCAA All-American and winning 4 conference championship events in the 2022-2023 season, we are incredibly excited to see what this upcoming season holds for Victoria."
It will also be exciting to see how the rest of the team performs this season. The Marauders return 11 swimmers and will add a recruiting class of 7 newcomers to the mix. Notable returners include sophomores
Jordn Wolsky and
Michaela Desmond, who both earned NDPF Athlete of the Week honors last year.
Wolsky was a true freshman standout in 22-23 with some of the highest marks in the NSIC in the 50, 100, and 200 flys. Desmond, also a true freshman last season, was a key piece in some very successful relays and showed out in both short and long-distance individual races.
The Marauders will also welcome back
Camille Merimee, who competed for the Marauders in 2021-22. As a then-freshman, Merimee was impressive in many of the free/back races and set the school record in the 50 free (23.39 seconds) at that year's NSIC Championships.
The Marauders also return
Mikayla Brackin,
Allie Elliott,
Marina Conde Revuelto,
Elle Holland,
Mariapocs Ruiz Martinez,
Teresa Cavanaugh, and
Sarah Towey. All of them competed in 2022-23 and contributed across regular season meets and at the conference championships.
The incoming freshman class consists of
Elise Altringer,
Sarah Bernasconi,
Madeline Desmond,
Kahlin Hamlin,
Oce Lowe,
Brenna Newlan, and
Maria Strong. Hamlin will also compete as the Marauders lone diver in the upcoming season.
This year's squad will officially dive into competition this weekend in Aberdeen, SD. The Marauders will compete in a two-day meet hosted by Northern State University. Friday will feature relay races beginning at 5:30 p.m. while the rest of the races will take place Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State will also be competing with the Marauders and Wolves at the Aberdeen YMCA.
It will be a busy period consisting of four meets away from Bismarck before the Marauders home opener on October 28 when they host Northern State and Jamestown from the BSC Aquatic & Fitness Center.
#marauders#
