Contact: Emily Zadny, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Results

ROCHESTER, Minn. (Dec. 9, 2019) – Swimming against some of the toughest competition in Division II and III, the Loras College swimming and diving team made waves at the Rochester Invite, hosted by St. Cloud State University over the weekend, led by junior Sarah Shafer's record-setting performances and NCAA Division III National Championship qualifying mark in the 100-yard backstroke.

Shafer opened the meet with a lifetime best in the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay, clocking the fourth fastest time in school history with a 1:57.90. The relay of Shafer, Kinsey Bogen, Amber Forbort and Nina Schiro posted a time of 8:15.08 to rank second in the Liberal Arts Conference.

Shafer continued to excel throughout the weekend, establishing program records in the 100-yard backstroke (56.69) which earned her an NCAA Division III B-Cut bid for the national championship, and the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.47). Her 200-yard time shattered the previous record, held by teammate Jennifer Young, by nearly three seconds. Shafer now has the fastest times in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) and Liberal Arts in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, and 200-yard backstroke.

In the women's 400-yard medley relay, Schiro swam the first leg and clocked the fifth fastest 100-yard backstroke time in program history and ranks second in the conference (1:02.55) while the relay's time of 4:09.04 is the second fastest in the conference. Bogen dropped 11 seconds off her season-best time in the 500-yard freestyle to swim a top-ten conference time of 5:41.99. The women's 200-yard free relay swam a time of 1:41.38 which included a 25.1 split from Alex Nesset which is an all-time best for her. This relay time ranks third in the conference only half of a second away from ranking first.

In the men's events, John Lynch IV posted the eighth fastest time in the conference in the 100-yard backstroke on the first leg of the 400-yard medley relay, swimming a 56.97. Ben Fogarty posted a personal best in the first leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay (24.80) and Cole Rabedeaux swam a personal-best 1:02.98 in the 100-yard backstroke.

Collectively, each swimmer on both the men's and women's team swam a season best swim. 

The Duhawks return to San Jose Pool for the first meet of 2020 on Jan. 11, hosting Luther College and Iowa Lakes Community College at 1 P.M.