Bourbonnais, Ill. – The AQ women's swim and dive team traveled across state lines on Saturday (Oct. 5) to jump-start the 2024-25 season. Aquinas went head-to-head with the Tigers of Olivet Nazarene inside the Perry Center. The Saints tallied 99 total points against an experienced and successful ONU team, with numerous Saints impressing in the pool today.
Highlights of the Day:
Like the men, the women's dive team scored the most individual points of any one team in any event today. Freshman
Emma Nibbelink won the one-meter springboard with a score of 159 points. She was closely followed by junior
Taylor Moss with 148.95 points. Junior
Kaitlyn Santaguida was fourth on the board with a score of 125.10 in her debut meet. In total, the three divers combined for 15 of AQ's 99 total points.
Freshman
Emma Dale made an incredible debut today. In her first collegiate meet, she crushed the all-time Aquinas record in the 100-yard (1:13.41) and 200-yard (2:41.86) breaststroke, setting records in both events. She finished in second place in both events.
Two was
Amelia Edens' favorite number today as she helped the 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay teams finish second in both events. Individually, she also finished second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:05.68 and second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:02.67.
Chloe Boivin was the lone women's swimmer to win her respective event today, as she finished first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.76 seconds. Boivin also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle (57.29 seconds) and was also a part of the second-place 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Emersyn Joslin debuted for the Saints today and immediately made an impact. She earned a personal-best time in the 200-yard backstroke and currently has a top-four time nationally with a 2:12.39 performance. That time also slots her into the sixth-best time for that event in AQ history. Joslin also placed third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.26) and was a part of the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Freshman
Adriana Waller made her debut in the pool for Aquinas and impressed. She finished second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:23.10 and third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:38.42. Waller was also the fourth member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that placed second.
Junior
Claire Hines was the fourth member of the 200-yard medley relay team and, individually, she placed third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.42.
Other Notable Accomplishments:
- Lily Heath finished third behind Edens in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:10.21.
- Nolynn Coombs finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:18.12. She also finished fourth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 57.87.
Head coach
Kristy Hepp was very happy with what the women's team was able to accomplish today. "Our women's team culture has been growing in unity and competitiveness, and I think that played a big role in impacting the final results today. Our more senior athletes have set the tone of excellence with such a large freshman class, and the team looked confident and prepared. We had two freshmen step up in huge ways today, with one earning two school records and another earning a top-4 time in the nation today.
Assistant coach
Trevor Sparks has been an incredible addition to the team with his technical expertise and coaching style, so I'm very excited to watch our team benefit from his mentorship. Our divers have also been working very hard with our new dive coach,
Sophia Farbarzhevich, and play an integral role in overall team success. We've set a high bar for ourselves with team goals, and this meet is just the start of what will be an incredible season!"
Up Next
The Saints have a quick turnaround as they return to action next weekend (Oct. 11-12). Aquinas will travel across town to take on Davenport, Saint Ambrose, and Eastern Illinois at the Kentwood Aquatic Center.
