June 19, 2006- Sophomore swimmer Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas / Frisco H.S.) and freshman diver Andrea Schwieters (Melrose, Minn. / Melrose H.S.) have been named to the Honorable Mention Academic All-American Team by the College Swimming Coaches Association. In order to receive this honor student athletes must demonstrate academic excellence and qualify for the NCAA meet. Both Simpson and Schwieters were members of the spring 2006 Dean's List. Simpson won the 200 meter breaststroke at the MIAC Championships with a NCAA provisional qualifying time 2:26.18. Simpson also received All-MIAC honors and was named Blazer MVP. Schwieters qualified for nationals in the 1 meter dive at the College of St. Catherine on January 24th with 258 points and at Gustavus Adolphus College on January 28th with 238 points. Swimming and Diving
Karen Schleper, Sports Information Student Assistant
April 3, 2006- The College of Saint Benedict's Swim and Dive team is ranked 15th in NCAA Division III for team GPA. The Blazers hold a 3.35 mark as a team. This academic acheivment complements the great success that CSB had on the season. Saint Ben's finished fourth at the 2006 MIAC Championship. Rankings
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
March 17, 2006- The Blazer Swim and Dive team has been named the 18th best team in NCAA Division III Swim and Dive according to CollegeSwimming.com. This is the final ranking for the website that compiles a power ranking based on each team's best dual meet lineup as judged and submitted by participating teams. CSB went 5-2 on the year in dual meets and were lead by conference champion Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) in the 200 Breaststroke and conference runner up Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) in the 100 Backstroke. The team finished fourth in the MIAC Championship. Carleton and St. Olaf are ranked 10th and 11th in the poll as both schools finished ahead of the Blazers in the MIAC Championship. Macelester, the final MIAC school in the ranking, is 25th. Poll
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
February 21, 2006- Sophomore swimmer Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) has been named Blazer Athlete of the Week. In the past weekend's MIAC Swim and Dive Championship Simpson placed first in the 200 Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:26.18. The time not only was a personal best for Simpson but qualified her for the NCAA's under the B cut, she will have to wait to see if her time will get in.
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
February 18, 2006- With 460.5 points Saint Ben's finished fourth in the 2006 Miac Swim and Dive Championship. Defending champion St. Olaf won again with 763.5 points. The Blazers were able to capture an individual win on the day and for the meet when sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS), who came into the weekend holding the fastest time for the event, won the 200 Breaststroke. Simpson also met the NCAA provisional qualifying time with her 2:26.18. Junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS), who finished second in the 100 Yard Backstroke by fractions of a second on Friday, came in fifth in the 200 Yard Backstroke. First-year diver and national competitor Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS) finished fourth in the 1 meter diving competition. Full Story | Saturday's Final Results | Final Team Results | Championship Site
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
February 17, 2006- Two days into the 2006 MIAC Swim and Dive Championships the Blazers remain in fourth place. CSB sits 225 points behind leader St. Olaf and 99 behind third place Carleton. Junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn/Grand Rapids HS) was just barely beaten out of first in the 100 Yard Backstroke, losing by four tenths of a second after swimming an amazing 1:00.99. Sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) finished third in the 100 Yard Breaststroke by bettering her best time on the year by well over more than a second.
Saint Ben's heads into the final day with some very important events remaining. Still left is the 1 meter diving competition with national competitor Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS) as well as the 200 Yard Breaststroke where Simpson is seeded first. Also look for Skrbec to seek redemption in the 200 Yard Backstroke after a close 100 Yard Backstroke today. The final day will begin tomorrow at 10:30 with the prelims and finish with the finals beginning at 6:30. Full Story | Friday's Final Results | Friday's Team Results | Championship Site
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
The Record February 16, 2006 - When members of the Blazer swimming and diving team began practice in early October, it would have been hard to predict the kind of success the team has had thus far. With successful programs like Blazer basketball and Blazer track and field, it was only a matter of time before the swimming and diving program joined the success of the other CSB athletic programs. That is how head coach Kathy Walker described it. Full Story
February, 16, 2006- After the first of three days at the 2006 MIAC Swim and Dive Championships the Blazers are in fourth place. They end the day trailing the leader and defending champ, St. Olaf, by 88.5 points. The highest individual placing for a Blazer went to sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) who finished sixth after qualifying with the second best time in prelims. Saint Ben's finished third in what was perhaps the most exciting race to watch of the day. The top three finishers in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay were seperated by two tenths of a second. CSB finished fourth in the 400 Yard Medley Relay, the only other relay on thursday. Competition for day two will resume Friday, February 17 with the prelims begining at 10:30 a.m. and the finals commencing at 6:30 p.m. Full Story | Thursday Prelims | Thursday Finals | Thursday Team Results | Championship Site
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
February 3-4, 2006- Over the weekend the Blazer swim and dive team competed at the Minnesota Challenge which hosted most of the collegiate programs from the state. Saint Ben's saw some of the top talent in the nation in a meet where their highest individual placing was 10th. This was accomplished by first-year Kilian Anderson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado H.S.) in the 1650 Yard Freestyle. Anderson also finished high in the 500 Yard Freestyle as she was one place behind first-year teammate Emily Simone (Maplewood, Minn./Roseville H.S.) who placed 21st. Senior leader Katie Jermihov (Edina, Minn./Edina H.S.) also performed well as she finished 22nd in the 200 Yard Freestyle as the top Blazer finisher in the event. Saint Ben's top relay performance came in the 400 Yard Medley Relay with a 19th place time. Next up for CSB will be the conference championship. The three day event will take place February 16-18. Results, Friday|Saturday
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
February 1, 2006- First-year diver Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS) was named Blazer Athlete of the Week. In her last two meets Schwieters has qualified herself to go to nationals. Schwieters came up six points shy of a Blazer record against St. Catherine with a 258 point total in the 1 meter diving event. Schwieters inked in her spot to nationals with a follow up 238.2 in the event against Gustavus. Her individual efforts not only extended her season but helped the Blazers defeat a Gustavus team they had not won against since '98. 1998 also happened to be the last time CSB had a diver compete at Nationals.
Patrick Hooper, Sports Information Student Assistant
January 28, 2006- In their only meet of the weekend the Blazer swim and Dive team traveled to Gustavus for a Dual Meet and left home with a close victory. The 157-143 score was the closest margin for CSB on the year. Saint Ben's opened the meet with a first place finish in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. The event would establish the close theme to the night as the win was captured by four tenths of a second. The 400 Yard Freestyle Relay was also won by the Blazers. First-year Beth Schiemann(Melrose, Minn./ Melrose HS) edged out a win in the 200 Yard Freestyle by half a second. Junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) kept it close in her 100 Yard Freestyle victory but broke the close finish trend in winning the 100 Yard Backstroke, yet again. Coming off a great meet January 24, sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) won the 100 Yard Breaststroke and the 200 Yard Breaststroke. First-year Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS) also carried over a good performance by earning victories in the 1 and 3 meter diving events. Next weekend Blazers will compete in the Minnesota Challenge at the University of Minnesota. Results
January 24, 2006- In their third meet in five days the Blazer swim and dive team brought their endurance test to an emphatic end. CSB treated the College of St. Catherine 164-95 defeat. The Blazers were propelled by the stellar performances of sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) and first-year Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS). Schwieters was the top diver of the meet and in the process surpassed the qualifying mark to go to Nationals in the 1 meter diving event. To gain a spot she must accomplish this task one more time before the national meet. Her 258 point total is six points shy of the CSB record. Schwieters also set a season best in the 3 meter event. Simpson set a lifetime best time in the 200 Yard Breaststroke that is two full seconds quicker than her rested and tapered time from last season. The 2:30.88 finish is four seconds from the school record. Saint Ben's has just one meet this weekend as they travel to Gustavus on Saturday, January 28. Competition is set to begin at 1 p.m. Full Story | Results
Jan. 21, 2006- Not even 24 hours after hosting SCSU the Women swim and dive team had to travel to Carleton to compete in a mini meet that also included Grinnell. Saint Ben's endurance showed as they continued to show their competitive nature amassing 505.5 pionts. Carleton came out on top with 551 points. Junior captain Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) won her fifth straight 100 Yard Backstroke event. She also placed second in both the 200 Yard Backstroke and the 50 Yard Freestyle. Sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS)was also able to grab a first place finish in an individual race with a 2:33.79 for the 200 Yard Breaststroke. Simpson came in second in the 400 Yard IM. From the boards first-year Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS) came in second in both the 1 meter and 3 meter diving competitions. First-year Brooke Johnson also performed well with second and third place finishes in the 100 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Breaststroke respectively. CSB will next host St. Catherine in a dual meet, January 24, at 6 p.m. Results
Jan. 20, 2006- On Friday night the Blazer Swim and Dive team hosted St. Cloud State. In the first of three meets that will take place in the next five days CSB put forth a good showing in a 118-57 loss. Junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) and first-year Brooke Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud HS) continued their brilliant seasons as they were the only Blazer swimmers to claim first in an individual performance. Skrbec kept up her streak of first place finishes in the 100 Yard Backstroke and added a third place time in the 50 Yard Freestyle. Johnson won the 100 Yard Breaststroke while also establishing a personal best time of 2:19.85 in the 200 Yard IM. The two Blazers teamed up in the 200 Yard Medley Relay Squad which took second with a season best 1:53.76. The 200 Yard Freestyle Relay Squad also set a season best time. The Blazers will compete again tomorrow at Carleton. Results
Jan. 20, 2006- Junior swimmer Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) has been named Blazer Athlete of the Week. In her performance on January 14 the captain helped her squad beat Concordia-Moorhead by a score of 149-78. Skrbec won two individual races and was a member of the first place 200 Yard Medley Relay. Her time of 25.93 in the 50 Yard Freestyle was just two hundreths of a second faster than second place. Skrbec had a time of 1:04.60 in the 100 Yard Backstroke.
Jan. 14, 2006- Fresh off of their training trip in the Florida Keys over winter break the Blazer swim and dive team showed off tuned and tanned bodies as they coasted past Concordia-Moorhead 149-78. CSB won eight of nine individual swim races and one of the two relay races. They actually had the best times in all of the events but were forced to race the final relay and the 100 Yard Breastroke as exhibition due to such a large lead by the Blazers in points. In the end sophomore Amanda Yaritz (Maplewood, Minn./Harding HS) and junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) each captured two individual races. Yaritz finished first in the 1000 and 500 Yard Freestyles. Skrbec won the 50 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Backstroke. Her time of 25.93 in the 50 Yard Freestlye was just two hundreths faster than first-year teammate Becca Schleicher (Avon, Minn./Albany HS). First-year Andria Schwieters (Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS) was the top Blazer diver but was beat out of first by just two points. CSB's next competition will be against St. Cloud State this Friday, January 20 at Saint John's. Results
St. Cloud Times December 15, 2005 - That Brooke Johnson chose to attend the College of St. Benedict is not surprising. The freshman swimmer is the daughter of Blazers head softball and assistant basketball coach Dennis Johnson, and her older sister, Brittney ,is a member of the school's softball team as well. But what is surprising is how quickly Johnson has been successful at the collegiate level. Already this season, the St. Cloud Tech graduate has emerged as one of St. Benedict's top swimmers. Full Story
December 13, 2005 - Amanda Yaritz (Maplewood, Minn./Harding HS) and Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) were named Blazer Athletes of the Week for their performances against St. Thomas on Saturday. Yaritz placed first in the 200 Freestyle and the
200 Backstroke. In both races Yaritz established season best times. She also took second in the 200 IM. Simpson placed first in the 200 IM as well as the 200 Butterfly. In the 200 Backstroke, Simpson, almost equaled a time she swam at Conference as she took fourth in the men's heat with a 2:32.90. Next up for both of the swimmers is to travel with their team to the Florida Keys for their anual Training Trip, December 27-January 6.
December 10, 2005- On Saturday December 10, the Blazer swim and dive team swam extremely well to assertively defeat the University of St. Thomas in a dual meet. The night after losing a meet to St. Olaf, Saint Ben's successfully defended their own pool as they cruised to victory at their first home meet on the year. The 200 Yard Medley Relay team made sure the tone was set right from the start as they opened the meet with a first place finish. Their 1:55.39 was a season best for the squad that consisted of junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS), first-year Brooke Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech HS), first-year Nikki Sand (Albany, Minn./Albany HS), and first-year Holly Broadwater (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Rapids HS). Another amazing performance was continued directly after the Medley Relay where sophomore Brittany Boegel (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) won the 1000 Freestyle by swimming it for the first time in her life. This follows a very impressive performance at the previous night's meet where she made personal best times in the 200 and 500 Freestyles. Boegel also finished second and fourth in the 200 Breaststroke and 100 Butterfly respectively. Saint Ben's next travels to the Florida Keys for their Training Trip over Winter Break. Their next competition will be to host Concordia-Moorehead on Saturday January 14 at 1 p.m. Full Story | Results
December 9, 2005 - Just after receiving Blazer of the Week honors, first-year swimmer Brooke Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud HS) continued her impressive performance against St. Olaf on Friday. Unfortunately, for the Blazers, they were defeated by a score of 147 to 54. Johnson finished first in the 100 Yard Backstroke and competed in the first place 200 Yard Medley Relay team. Johnson also finished second in the 200 Yard IM. First-year Becca Schleicher (Avon, Minn./Albany HS) swam well as she finished second in the 100 Yard Freestyle and third in the 50 Yard Freestyle. Schleicher also swam on the first place 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team. Sophomore Brittany Boegel (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) swam with Schleicher on the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay and added third and fourth place finishes in the 500 Yard Freestyle and 200 Yard Freestyle. Results
The Record December 8, 2005 - The St. Ben's swimming and diving team is full of fresh faces. This year, the team gained 17 new first-years from all over the country, including Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and as far away as Colorado, Texas and Washington. Having only one senior and two juniors, underclassmen make up the majority of the team. "The first-years are by far the most free spirited group of girls the team has seen in a long time," said coach Kathy Walker, who is in her second year as head coach of the Blazers. Thus, this season's sophomores and first-years are swimmers and divers that she brought to the team. When Walker is recruiting, she doesn't look for talent but for individuals that have a great personality, are team oriented and can work hard. Full Story
December 6, 2005 - First-Year swimmer Brooke Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud HS) was named Blazer Athlete of the Week. In her December 3 performance at the Cobber/Dragon Open she helped score 88 points for the Blazers who finished in fourth. Johnson scored 48 points for finishing first in the 100 Yard Breaststroke and second in the 50 Yard Freestyle. The rest of the points came from being a key part of the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay that finished second and beat the previous pool record. Johnson and the Blazers next competition will be Friday, December 9 at St. Olaf.
December 3, 2005 - The Blazers swim team placed fourth on Saturday at the Cobber/Dragon Open hosted by Minnesota State University-Moorhead. Fourth place turned out to be better than the three other MIAC opponents that swam in the meet. Augsburg placed eighth while Concordia and St. Catherine placed fifth and sixth respectively. Saint Ben's swimmers were led by First-Year Brooke Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech HS). Johnson finished first in the 100 Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:10.04. Her time of 25.73 in the 50 Yard Freestyle was second best in the event after she had qualified with the best time in Prelims. Johnson was also a member of the fourth place 400 Yard Freestyle Relay squad. In addition CSB had contributions from Junior Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) who placed first in the 100 Yard Backstroke. Saint Ben's 400 Yard Freestyle Relay team bettered the pool record but was trumped by Northern Michigan to finish second in the race. Host, Minnesota State, placed first in the meet and was followed by Northern Michigan then North Dakota. The Blazers next competition is Friday, December 9 at St. Olaf. Results
November 18, 2005 - Saint Ben's swim and dive team defeated the University of Minnesota-Morris with a score of 140-27. First-year Holly Broadwater (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Rapids HS) helped out her squad by finishing first in the 100 Yard Freestyle event. She also finished second in the 50 Yard Freestyle. Junior teammate Sara Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./ Grand Rapids HS) came in first in the event with a time of 25.52. Skrbec's time of 2:19.95 in the 200 Yard Backstroke was also the top time. Both Skrbec and Broadwater competed as legs on the relay team that won the 200 Yard Medley Relay. First-year Beth Schiemann (Melrose, Minn./ Melrose HS) took control of the distance events as she won the 200 Yard Freestyle (2:04.25) and placed second in the 500 Yard Freestyle. CSB swim and dive's next competition will be the Cobber Invitational at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 3. Results: Team - Individual
November 12, 2005 - CSB Blazer swimming and dive team finished third in five events and second in another at the SCSU Invitational on Saturday. The lone second place finish came in the 100 Yard Freestyle where first-year Holly Broadwater (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) finished one second off the winner at 56.41. The Blazers came in at third in the 400 Yard Medley Relay and again in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. In the freestyle relay Saint Ben's was only eight one-hundredths behind second place. Sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) placed third in both the 400 Yard IM and the 200 Yard Breaststroke. Junior captain Sarah Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) finished third in the 100 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:04.10. The Blazers next competition will be Friday, November 18 at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Results
November 5, 2005 - On Saturday seven Saint Ben's swimmers began the season by setting their personal best times. One of those Blazers was first-year swimmer Brooke Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./ St. Cloud Tech HS). Johnson's P.R. came in the 50 Yard Freestyle. Her time of 25.69 placed her in fourth. Fellow first-year Kelly McCann (Hudson, Wisc.) arrived two one hundreths of a second faster to take third in the event. Johnson showed another good performance in the 100 Yard Breaststroke as she took third. McCann was the top Blazer finisher in the 100 Yard Freestyle at sixth place. Sophomore Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS) finished third in the 200 Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:33.89. This time falls five seconds short of the national qualifying standard. Simpson produced the best CSB time in the 200 Yard IM which was good enough for sixth. The Blazers next competition will be the SCSU Invite held Saturday, November 12 at St. Cloud State University. Competition will begin at 10 am. Results
October 6, 2005 - Saint Ben's swim and dive team held its first practice this past Saturday, October 1. Head coach Kathy Walker head into her third season as the Blazer's coach with signs of optimism. With first-year swimmers making up more than half the team coach Walker will have to turn to her captains. Junior captain Sarah Skrbec (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) and lone senior captain Katherine Jermihov (Edina, Minn./Edina HS) must lead this young Blazer squad. In addition to these two the Blazers look to find great production from Kaelly Simpson (Plano, Texas/Frisco HS), Brittany Boegel (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS), Kaylen James (Edina, Minn./Eden Prairie HS), and Andrea Price (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) in the breaststroke and IM events. There is also optimism for Amanda Yaritz (Maplewood, Minn./Harding HS), Sunleaf Hinton (New Lisbon, Wis./New Lisbon HS), and Anne Bush (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) in the distance freestyle events.
With the combination of a talented group of upperclassmen and a large first year class that has great potential the Blazer coach finds it hard not to be impressed, "the future looks very bright for the team this year," said Walker. The Alumnae meet will be held at SJU on Saturday, October 22 at 11 a.m. The first meet of the competitive season for the Blazers is Saturday, November 5 at 11 a.m. This will be the Northfield Invitational where Saint Ben's will swim against St. Olaf and Carleton. The season will run into the middle of February concluding with State, MIAC, and NCAA Division III tournaments taking place in the Twin Cities.
October 1, 2005- The CSB swimming team has earned a superior honor from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Academic All-American Swimming Team for the spring semester of 2005. There were three different categories the CSCAA will recognize a team for and the Blazers worked their way to the highest category,superior. To qualify for the superior honor the grade point average of the entire swimming and diving squad must average at least a 3.25 or better.
St. Cloud Times, May 12, 2005 - Second-year Saint Benedict swim coach Kathy Walker has managed to convince many of the top swimmers in the area to stay close to home and swim for the Blazers next season. Walker plans to bring in about 25 freshmen swimmers in all. Included in that group are St. Cloud Tech's Brooke Johnson, Melrose's Beth Schiemann and Andrea Schwieters, Albany's Nikki Sand and Becca Schleicher, Foley's Jade DeRocher and Monticello's Megan Vetsch. Full Story
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