ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict kept up its history-setting pace Friday as the Bennies closed out day two of the Rochester Invite with three program top-10 performances and a steady climb up the leaderboard. Through two days of competition, the Bennies sit eighth overall with 419 points.
Junior
Haley Zelen (Shakopee, Minn.) delivered the headline swim of the night. After qualifying fourth in the 100 breaststroke, she surged to a third-place finals finish in 1:05.77—good for second-fastest in CSB history and less than a second off Katie Kuhlmann's 2000 program record (1:04.58).
Zelen returned to the deck soon after as part of the Bennies' 400 medley relay, which raced to sixth place in 3:57.80. The quartet—Zelen,
Mary Morris (St. Cloud, Minn.),
Megan Bartels (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), and
Anna Schottler (Chanhassen, Minn.)—notched the second-best mark in school history.
CSB came within a blink of another top-six relay finish in the 200 free relay, taking eighth in 1:38.30—just .03 out of sixth. Schottler, Morris,
Lydia Jostock (Delano, Minn.) and Zelen combined for the time, the seventh-fastest ever for CSB.
In individual events, junior
Jayda Alholm (Little Falls, Minn.) placed 23rd in the 400 IM (5:06.90). In the 100 breaststroke, Bartels finished 21st in 1:10.10 (1:10.00 prelims), followed closely by first-year
Bella Kern (Delano, Minn.) in 22nd at 1:10.12 (1:10.08 prelims).
The 200 freestyle brought an eighth-place finish for Morris, who touched in 1:57.85 (1:57.58 prelims).
Morgan Stout (Des Moines, Iowa) took 15th in 2:00.67 (2:00.07 prelims), and Schottler followed in 21st at 2:01.35.
In the 100 backstroke, senior
Lauren Sitzman (Omaha, Neb.) earned 22nd in 1:01.26.
Josie Thomas (St. Paul, Minn.) placed 28th in 1:02.46, and first-year
Maddie Modjeski (Winona, Minn.) finished 30th in 1:03.86.
The Rochester Invite concludes Saturday, with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. The final day will feature the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 100 IM, 400 free relay, 200 fly, and the grueling 1,650 freestyle.
