Storm women close record-setting performance at Liberal Arts Championships

ELSAH, Ill. – The Simpson women's swimming and diving team set four school records during the final two days of the Liberal Arts Championships, brining the total to six for the weekend as the Storm closed the season on a high note.

Tori Haag re-set her own school record in the 400 IM, Alex Vander Veen broke the school mark in the 100 butterfly, the 400 freestyle relay set a record in the prelims and the 200 medley relay inked a new best while turning in the team's top place on the weekend.

"I was very happy with our performance at the meet," head coach Tom Caccia said. "We scored 50 more points than our original seeded points projected, so we're very happy with that. Now we're excited for next season and hope to find a way to make up the points we will be losing to graduation."

A large chunk of those points came from Haag.

Of the six school records set over the weekend, Haag had a hand in five. After just two seasons on the team – she focused on softball as a freshman and sophomore – Haag now lays claim to school records in the 200 and 400 IM, the 200 and 400 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

The Storm placed ninth of 12 teams with 184 points.

Highlights

• Haag re-set her own school record in the 400 IM, crushing her previous mark by 13 seconds to finish ninth in 1:57.96. The ninth-place finish was tied for the best individual place for the Storm. She also took 10th in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in a personal-best time of 56.22.
• Vander Veen broke the school record in the 100 butterfly, placing 14th in 1:05.01. She also placed 14th in the 200 butterfly, finishing in 2:29.04 in the prelims, the No. 2 time in school history.
• The 200 medley relay team of Megan Buitendorp, Mikala Williams-Yee, Vander Veen and Haag swam 1:57.15 to set a new school record and place sixth, the Storm's highest finish of the weekend.
• The 400 freestyle relay team of Emma Gerdis, Jordan Greenwood, Haley Blum and Haag set a school record by swimming 3:48.55 in the prelims. The quartet went on to finish eighth (3:50.20) in the finals.
• Blum swam to a ninth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall in a season-best time of 2:40.70. She took 10th in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:12.79, also a season-best.
• Williams-Yee finished just behind her teammate Blum in the 100 breaststroke, taking 11th by finishing in a season-best time of 1:13.15.
• Buitendorp placed 11th in the 200 backstroke with a personal-best time of 2:19.97. She also set a personal-best in the 100 backstroke with a 1:04.37 in the prelims. She went on to place 14th in the finals (1:04.83).

Final Team Standings
1. Luther, 823.5; 2. Franklin, 666.5; 3. Minnesota Morris, 382; 4. Coe, 355.5; 5. Illinois Tech, 346; 6. Loras, 229; 7. Nebraska Wesleyan, 196; 8. Morningside, 185.5; 9. Simpson, 184; 10. Mills, 150; 11. Principia, 134; 12. Eureka, 1