MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Wildcats came back to Marquette just in time for a couple Halloween wins against Saginaw Valley State University, and tough losses to Grand Valley State University.


Friday
The meet was kicked off by the 125-yard Medley Relay, with the Women Wildcats taking first and second place. Group A, who took first, consisted of Camilla Carbone, Zoe DeKievit, Txell Font-Cantarero, and Nadia Helm. Right behind them was Group B's Faith Sill, Evelyn DeCarlo, Olivia Haerr, and Pilar Perello-Ferrer. Both groups added 15 points to the score. 

The Men's team led the relay, scoring 11 points. With a time of 53.22 was Group A; this included Thibault Auger, Roberto Camera, Marty Wolmarans, and Leo Nolles. Group B came in third and added 2 more points. 

Events 3 and 4 were all about the 175-yard Freestyle. For the women, Michaela Nelson claimed second place with a time of 1:41.43, she also raised the score by 4. Third and fourth place went to Ella Houwers, who acquired 3 points, and Vanessa Steigauf, who earned 2. Daniel Khmara found his way into second place while gathering 4 points for the 'Cats. Trailing behind in third was Erikas Kapocius who earned himself 3 points. 

The 25-yard Backstroke quickly approached and had Carbone racing the clock. She flew into first at 12.94 and acquired 9 points. Mia Strazny was close behind at 13.60, raising the score by 4 points. Notable mention is Joanne Arbic who came in fifth place and added 1 point to the team.

Leo Nolles fell short by .25 and landed in second. Lane 8's Ian Rocheleau was right behind Nolles at 11.84. Fourth place was claimed by Auger at 11.89. These three accumulated 9 points during this event. 

DeKievit, Jillian McKinley, and Evelyn DeCarlo participated in the 25-yard Breaststroke; each respectively falling in second, fourth, and fifth, while adding 7 points to the scoreboard. The Men's side went head-to-head in this event; Camera came in second by .09, Andrew Tease in third at 12.60, and Niels Callewaert in fourth at 12.82. They collectively added 9 points to their score. 

Both NMU teams showed their worth in the 75-yard Butterfly where Font-Cantarero placed first with a time of 41.26, Donna Hannig trailing behind at 42.36, Jenna Joerger at 42.53, Heidi Billings coming fourth, and Faith Sill in fifth. Ryan Lund prevailed in first at 37.26, Liam Boomer in second at 37.40, third-placer Javier Pena-Reyes with a time of 38.09, and Hudson Lowery in fourth. Both teams walked away with 16 points for each team. 

The 25-yard Freestyle was another proud moment for the Wildcats. The women took places 1 through 5; Haerr, Arbic, McKinley, Helm, and Becca Burrows. While the men took 1 through 3, Nolles, William LaCount, and Wolmarans. The teams earned a combined total of 32 points, once again finding themselves with 16 for each side. 

Lauren Plockmeyer improved her score during the 1-meter dive, boosting her 232.30 to 237.29. Not only did she improve, but she also earned first and earned 9 points. Tobie Stiles also improved his score during this event by 204.08, he entered with 266.70 and ended with 470.78. Similar to Plockmeyer, Stiles also took the lead and earned the Men's team 9 points.

After diving, we switched over to the 75-yard Freestyle where we watched Helm earn first place with a time of 38.43 and gather 9 points. The men fell short, but Khmara took fourth and Caleb Rice in 7th, adding 3 points to the score. 

The 75-yard Backstroke had SVSU taking the top spots, but Carbone pushed through and took first place at 42.04, dropping 0.87 off her time and accumulating 9 points. Auger, Kapocius, and Rocheleau took second, fourth, and fifth while gaining 7 points.

Dekievit made the 75-yard Breaststroke interesting when she took first place and dropped 0.42 off of her time. The sole placer for the women scored 9 points. Camera, LaCount, and Tease took second through fourth where they acquired 9 points. 

Font-Cantarero showed off her skills when she dropped 0.43 off of her entry time of 12.33. She placed first and fled with 9 points. Lund also shaved a bit off of his time, 0.18 to be exact. With Lund and Boomer in the top two places, and Pena-Reyes in fifth, the 'Cats took 14 points for themselves. A notable mention is Luke Pettinger who dropped 0.36 from his entry time, 11.60 to 11.24.

The women fell behind in the 3-meter dive and earned 6 points, but improved their scores by a long-shot. Plockmeyer, who took third, entered with 182.75 and went to 341.70. Izzy McCabe, fourth place, improved by 96.39 from her 221.90. Ashlee Smith, fifth place, started out at 140.85 and improved to 270.15. As for the men, Stiles found first, took 9 points, and improved by 35.84 from his entry score of 252.15.

Billings prevailed in the 125-yard IM where she came in at 1:15.82 and earned 9 points. Lopez-Aponte found fourth and Kapocius in fifth, gathering 3 points. 

The final event was the 125-yard Freestyle Relay where the women's Group A team brought their A-game and pushed into first, walking away with 11 points added to their belt. Their time was 56.05 and included Helm, Perello-Ferrer, Hannig, Haerr, and Nelson. The men did the same by earning first place and gathering 11 points. This consisted of LaCount, Khmara, Wolmarans, Camera, and Nolles hitting a time of 48.52.


Saturday
The 'Cats began the Saturday afternoon meet with the 200-yard Medley Relay. The Women's Group A flew into first at 1:46.60, where they dropped 1.18 to their time. This accomplishment was made by Carbone, DeKievit, Font-Cantarero, and Helm. Group B found themselves in third with a time of 1:48.57. 

The men fell behind in the relay to SVSU, but the second placer's dropped their time by 0.75, going from 1:34.48 to 1:33.73. This included Auger, Camera, Lund, and LaCount. 

Even though GVSU prevailed in the 1000-yard Freestyle, Font-Cantarero came through for the Wildcats taking second place. A notable mention is Steigauf who took 5th but dropped her time by 16.91; she entered with 11:03.58 and went down to 10:46.67.

Ondrej Zach gave us an advantage when he took first for the relay. Not only that, but he also dropped his time by 32.61. Jasper Pullinen, who placed fifth, also dropped time today, going from 9:55.62 to 9:38.16. Honorable mentions for dropping time include Logan Robillard, Patrick Andrews, and Grant Combs.

GVSU led another event, the 200-yard Freestyle, but Helm put her best foot forward and took second with a time of 1:55.72; she also dropped her time by 0.85. Joerger placed fourth and dropped her time by 3.21. Others who dropped were Hannig and Franny Gastrow. 

The men's team had a rocky road where Khmara found himself in fifth place. Many drops were made throughout this event, these people were Khmara, Lopez-Aponte, Kapocius, and James Werwie.

NMU kicked butt during the 100-yard Backstroke where the 'Cats claimed first through third place. Carbone, Sill, and Stranzny earned those top spots and made drops of 0.86, 0.77, and 1.51. 

Auger took third for the event with a time of 51.96, where he dropped by 1.75. Rocheleau and Rice dropped their times by 1.34 and 0.28. 

Event 9 and 10 was all about the 100-yard Breaststroke where DeKievit came out on top with a time of 1:06.09 and dropped by 1.89. DeCarlo came in fourth at 1:09.19. Camera took second for the men at 58.85 and Tease bettered his time by 0.29 when he came in fifth. Notable mention includes Callewaert who dropped by 0.19.

The 200-yard Butterfly occurred soon after, where the Wildcats saw Font-Cantarero take another first place title at 2:04.72 and drop by 6.60. Nelson, who made it into fifth, also dropped by 3.13. Honorable mention goes to Lauren Melendez-Rivero who dropped by 5.34. 

For the men, Pena-Reyes made his comeback when he placed second at 1:56.64 and dropped by 0.52. Lowery came in fourth with a time of 1:57.36. Lund, Boomer, and Adamson all made drops during the event. 

Haerr placed second in the 50-yard Freestyle and made a drop of 0.12 to her entry time of 24.70. Burrows, Arbic, and Emilia Morris made progress when they also made drops. Nolles placed first for the men when he came in at 21.09. Wolmarans, Ben Stolberg, and Dean Ramsbottom, and Combs showed their skills when they dropped their times during this event.

Event 15 was dedicated to the Women's 1-meter dive where the Wildcats struggled to make it into the top 5. Plockmeyer took seventh place with a score of 355.20, McCabe in ninth with 290.10, Germain tenth with 283.15, and Smith in eleventh with a final of 274.70.

Tobie Stiles claimed third place in the 3-meter dive where he improved his score by 14.10, he had an entry score of 252.15.

Haerr flew to first place when she improved her time by 0.49 from her entry time of 53.03. Nelson, Helm, Burrows, Arbic, and Morris made drops in their times during event 17. Nolles finished in second place with a time of 46.73, and dropped by 0.22. Other drops were from LaCount, Wolmarans, Ramsbottom, and Combs.

Billings brought her A-game when she took the title of first place in the 200-yard Backstroke, with a time of 2:05.28 and dropped by 1.12. NMU also took places three through six by Carbone, Strazny, Sill, and Joerger, who all made drops as well. The men seemed to struggle during this event when they took places six, eight, ten, eleven, and twelve. Kapocius took sixth while Rocheleau, who placed eighth, and Max Swiatkowski, who placed twelfth, dropped in their times

Zoe DeKievit kept bringing the heat when she claimed another win during the 200-yard Breaststroke and dropped her entry level of 2:27.84 to 2:23.21. Camera came through in second when he had a time of 2:09.69 and dropped by 2 seconds exactly. Tease followed in third at 2:11.42 and dropped 4.80 seconds. Lopez-Aponte came in fourth at 2:11.55. 

The 500-yard Freestyle marked events 23 and 24 where Nelson took fourth and Steigauf in fifth. Notable drops were made by Nelson, Steigauf, Houwers, Gastrow, and Erin VanderSchaff. Zach placed fourth with a time of 4:42.33 and dropped by 4.95. Robillard, Andrews, and Combs were able to drop their times as well. 

Font-Cantarero kept the audience on their toes during the 100-yard Butterfly where she claimed first place with 56.71 and had a drop of 1.36. Sill, Burrows, and Melendez-Rivero all dropped in the event too. Ryan Lund took fourth where he dropped by 1.57. Along with Lund's drop was Boomer's and Werwie's.

The 3-meter dive was claimed by GVSU but sixth place's Plockmeyer improved her score by 29.25; her entry score was 182.75. Germain and McCabe also improved their scores in this dive. Stiles took second in the 1 meter dive where he scored 430.45, right behind GVSU. 

Billings, DeKievit, and Houwers proved themselves in the 200-yard IM where they placed second, fourth, and fifth. All three made drops ranging from 0.66 to 4.83. Lopez-Aponte took fourth place with a time of 1:56.10 and dropped by 0.98. Along with his drop was Kapocius' which was by 1.24.

- Events 31&32: 200-yard Freestyle Relay-
The final event of the evening was the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. Group A prevailed for the women, where they had a time of 1:37.91 and dropped by 1.43. This group entailed Nelson, Helm, Hannig, and Haerr. Group A for the men's team found second where they came in at 1:24.06 and dropped by 4.94. This included LaCount, Camera, Wolmarans, and Nolles.


FINAL SCORES
The Wildcats took the win during this Friday's meet, the Women's team came out 148-106 and the Men's team with 135-120. 

On Saturday, the Women won against SVSU, 224-76, but lost to GVSU, 157-143. The Men's team had the same outcomes. They won against SVSU, 151-143, and lost to GVSU, 187-101.


UP NEXT
Catch the swim and dive team when they take on Wayne State and Findlay in Detroit, MI on November 4th and 5th.