MARQUETTE, Mich. – Junior Arnoldo Herrera (Heredia, Costa Rica/Saint Jude) has been named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Male Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week.
Herrera captured two first place finishes in Saturday's meet with Division I opponent University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. In the 100-yard breaststroke, he timed in at 57.52 and posted a winning time of 2:06.10 in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Herrera is the second men's swimming and diving athlete of the week and the sixth recipient for the full Wildcats team.
The Wildcats will host their final meet in the PEIF Pool Saturday afternoon with their annual Intrasquad Meet and Skins. The meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. and features many fun races and events, including mixed races, a class relay and a relay between the Northern Michigan University Football and Men's Soccer teams. The meet will also serve as Senior Day for three members of the team.
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WEEKLY NOTES
Senior Day: Hannah Crump (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/South Dakota State) from the women's team and Dan Szuba (White Lake, Mich./Detroit Central Catholic/Michigan) and David Wulffe (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis) will be honored from the men's team during Saturday's meet.
Beating the D1: Last Saturday, the men's team defeated UWGB to get their first victory over a D1 school of the season. The team won a total of 11 events on the day to win the meet 166-131. In addition to Herrera's two victories, junior Renars Bundzis (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary School) and sophomore Lajos Budai (Kecskemet, Hungary/Bolyai Janos) also captured victories in two races.
Women win nine: The women's team won nine races against UW Green Bay in the team's final dual meet. Junior Regan Kilburn (Muscatine, Iowa), sophomore Rachel Helm (Newcastle upon Tyne, England/Burnside College), and freshmen Gabriella Spajic (New South Wales, Australia/De La Salle Catholic College Cronulla), and Katharina Springhetti (Tramin, Italy/Auerora Specialized Secondary School for Economic Field) each won two events to lead the Wildcats.
Stay ranked: Despite defeating NCAA Division I UWGB, the men's team dropped from fifth to eighth in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America NCAA Division II poll. On the women's side, the Wildcats dropped two spots to ninth nationally. Both teams are the second-highest ranked team from the GLIAC.
GLIAC recognition: In addition to Herrera, Budai also won the award for the men's team. On the women's side, Helm, Spajic and junior Angela Probstfeld (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland) and freshman Lena Soulas (London, England/Woodhouse) each won GLIAC Swimmer of the Week honors.
Unlike any other meet: As part of the team's final meet, the event schedule includes several unique races. The meet will feature mixed races of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, and the 200-yard individual medley. The team's divers will compete in a 100-yard freestyle diver relay. After the second break, the team will also compete in a 200-yard medley mixed-class relay, where the different classes will compete against each other.
Getting other sports involved: Prior to the Skins races, Saturday's meet includes the Football versus Futbol 100-yard freestyle relay. In this race, members from the NMU football team and men's soccer team will compete against each other.
What are Skins?: Saturday's meet also begins and ends with the Skins competition. To open the meet, all swimmers will swim a 100-yard individual medley. After everyone completes the race, the top eight performers will advance to the next round, occurring at the end of the meet. A representative will then draw a stroke (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) which the top eight men and women will swim. The top six will then advance and a new stroke will be selected. The top four then advance and will compete with a different stroke. The final two men and women swimmers will then compete to be the 2018 Skins winner. The challenge to the Skins competition comes from possibly swimming strokes a participant may not proficient in, the competitors also receive little rest in between the races.
