Contact: Ashleigh Jones, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Oct. 21, 2017- The North Central College men's & women's swimming & diving team opened their season with a strong finish over host Monmouth College and Knox College in a double-dual meet.
 
The Cardinals combined scores exhibit substantial victories over Monmouth and Knox thanks to top finishes in the men's and women's 200-yard medley relays and the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay.
 
Combined team scores:
North Central College: 222.00        Monmouth College: 198.00
North Central College: 265.00        Knox College: 141.00
 
North Central's women's team dominated the water throughout the meet, taking control early with a first and second place finish in the women's 200-yard medley relay.
 
The first-place relay team included Sam Kruzel, Marissa Hoppe, Beth Ryan and Amy Feltz, who finished with the time of 1:59.92. The second-place relay team was comprised of Danai Stylianou, Hannah Downing, Emily Vargo and Emily Manikas finishing with a time of 2:08.95.
 
Kruzel came out strong finishing in first place in the 100-yard backstroke (1:08.52), 200-yard freestyle (2:12.61) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:57.63).
 
Kruzel's success was followed closely by Vargo who placed second in the women's 200-yard freestyle (2:23.91) and third in the 500-yard freestyle (6:31.83). 
 
Hoppe fought hard in her events finishing first in the 50-yard breaststroke (35.00) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.61).
 
Rounding out the upperclassmen's success Stylianou earned first place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly (1:07.39) and the 100-yard IM(1:07.40).
 
Not to be outdone newcomers Ryan, Feltz and Downing contributed significantly in keeping North Central on top.
 
Feltz earned first place in the 50-yard freestyle with the time of 26.62. And continued her success winning second place in the 100-yard freestyle 59.87 just three seconds after first-place finisher Ryan (56.05)
 
Beth Ryan also took first place in the 50-yard butterfly with the time of 27.43, which edged out teammate Hannah Downing (31.43); who also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly.
 
With an overall team effort, the women's team outscored its opponents by 71 points.
 
 
Women's team scores:
North Central College: 134.00        Monmouth College:71.00
North Central College: 136.00        Knox College: 65.00
 
Freshman Nick Mielke found his stroke early in his Cardinal debut assisting in two first-place relay finishes. Swimming in the men's 200-yard medley relay, with the team of Mielke, Ryan Lewellyan, Austin Blaser, and Ian Greenway; the Cardinals won first (1:48.43) with just three-tenths of a second faster than Monmouth.
 
Mielke earned his second, first place finish in the individual 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 28.45.
 
North Central continued swimming hard with a first-place finish by Blaser in the 100-yard freestyle (53.04), and second (26.07) and third(26.19) place finishes by Greenway and Blaser respectively in the 50-yard butterfly.
 
Leading both the men's 200-yard medley relay and the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay, to first place finishes Mielke's meet success didn't stop there.
 
To close out a successful start to the season the Cardinals earned first in the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay. Finding the rhythm early the first-place team of Nick Mielke, Austin Blaser, Amy Feltz, and Beth Ryan finished with the time of 1:39.36. While the Cardinals second relay team of Luke Gentile, Cameron Teel, Danai Stylianou, and Marissa Hoppe came just short in earning the third-place finish with a time of 1:46.21.
 
Men's team scores:
Monmouth College: 127.00           North Central College: 88.00
North Central College: 129.00       Knox College: 76.00
 
 
The Cardinals take to the pool next on Saturday, Oct. 28, when they compete in the Illinois Wesleyan University Halloween Invitational. Start time is set for 1 PM.