On Thursday, January 27th the Cabrini Varsity Swim & Dive Team competed in a dual-meet against Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard/Greenhills (AAGR) – the only other co-ed team in their league. While AAGR came out on top with a score of 136 to 45, the Monarchs turned in some great swims and ended the night with 20 Personal Records, and 9 athletes competing in a new race for the first time this season.

The first race was the 200 Medley Relay in which 12 Monarchs competed, three of them dropping time in their leg of the race.  The A Relay team of Seniors Lily Heathand Lauren Schulte,Sophomore Drew Bylow and Freshman Ralph Kaleniecki, earned a 3^rd place finish in that race. Next in the 200 Freestyle, Senior Joseph Berro, Sophomore Tyler Noah, and Freshman Giovanni Rea swam the longer race for the first time this season and surprised themselves and the coaches with how well they did! In the 200 Individual Medley, Junior Chris Russelburg swam the grueling race for the first time, and both Junior Taylor Bonar and Sophomore Ella Brash dropped time in their swims – Bonar dropping 15 seconds from earlier this season.

As always, Cabrini stepped up in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle, with 12 athletes competing and six  of them earning personal records. Bylow also took 1^st place in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 23.10. Other highlights included Freshman Jenny Day and Kaleniecki swimming the 500 Freestyle for the first time this season, as well as Junior Kieran Fix dropping 3 seconds in the 100 Backstroke since the prior Saturday’s competition. The Monarchs also represented their team well in the 100 Breaststroke event, with Schulte earning 2nd place,  Noah earning 3rd place, and Berro earning 4th place.

To finish out the night, nearly the entire team competed in the 200 Freestyle Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay, with Berro, Brash, Fix, Rea, Kaleniecki, Noah and Freshman Jack Fitzgerald, dropping time in their split of the race.

The entire team was challenged at this dual meet – whether by swimming a longer distance, a tougher race, or swimming in back-to-back events. The coaches couldn’t have been prouder of their team and are excited to see these incredible athletes continue to challenge themselves throughout the second half of the season. Next up for the Monarchs is the Wayne County Invitational on Saturday, February 5th, Good Luck Monarchs!