Simpson concludes season at A-R-C Invitational

DECORAH, Iowa – The Simpson College swimming and diving teams closed out the 2021-22 season on a high note, breaking three school records and swimming some of the fastest times of the season at the American Rivers Conference Invitational.

The Storm were led by Kate Minette who won two events, including one in record time, and anchored both relays that lowered record marks set by the team earlier this season. Breana Hinson was also a member of both relay teams and had a podium finish in the 100 butterfly.

At the conclusion of the event, first-year head coach Adam Cvetich was named Women's Swimming Coach of the Meet after the team compiled 245.5 points.

"I thought our team did an outstanding job," said Cvetich. "Having such a young and small team is very exciting, but it comes with it's own set of challenges. Many of our swimmers have never competed at a meet like this before, and there are a lot of races over a long period of time which is exhausting both physically and mentally. They had their ups and downs, but the whole team really did a fantastic job and it was great seeing them grow and come together to realize what this meet is all about."

The four-day invitational began on Wednesday night with the 800 freestyle relays and men's 1-meter diving. The Storm women got right to business with a second-place finish in the relay, touching the wall in 8:21.67 to break the school record for the second time this season. The quartet of Hinson, Katelyn Smith, Keelin Curley and Minette worked together to shave five seconds off the team's time from the Pioneer Classic on Dec. 4, which was the fastest mark in nearly four years.

On day two, Simpson's relay teams had more success as the women's 200 freestyle team swam the third-fastest time in school history and the women's 400 medley team recorded the second fastest time of the season. Individually, Minette took gold in the 50 freestyle and was .04 away from breaking an 18-year old school record with a time of 25.04.

The Storm had a pair of podium finishes on Friday with Hinson placing third with a personal-best time of 1:03.54 in the 100 butterfly and Minette earning third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:04.03. On the men's side, Jay Ceperely had two career-bests and Nathan Parkins had one.

On the final day of competition, Smith, Maggie Steinbeck and Alaira Bode started the day each posting personal bests in the 1650 freestyle. Minette then collected a second gold medal and put her name at the top of another leaderboard, swimming the program's fastest 100 freestyle since the 2013-14 season. The 400 freestyle relay team of Curley, Smith, Hinson and Minette capped off the meet with a team record time of 3:47.68 to earn a runner-up finish.

"Our women's team put up an incredible amount of points despite competing in ten less events than the next smallest team," said Cvetich. "All of our sprinters on both the men's and women's squads had exciting races with great finishes, and our distance swimmers trusted their training, stayed strong and had some strong swims. This was a successful meet and year for our program, and I'm excited for the future."

Women's Meet Results
800 freestyle relay - 2. Breana Hinson, Katelyn Smith, Keelin Curley, Kate Minette, 8:21.67
200 freestyle relay - 4. Keelin Curley, Katie Oosterhuis, Breana Hinson, Kate Minette, 1:44.55
500 freestyle - Breana Hinson, 5:40.49 | Katelyn Smith, 5:40.61 | Alaria Bode, 6:33.78
200 IM - Maggie Steinbeck, 2:36.19
50 freestyle - 1. Kate Minette, 25.04 | 6. Keelin Curley, 26.16 | Katie Oosterhuis, 27.60 | Alaria Bode, 30.20
400 medley relay - 5. Keelin Curley, Maggie Steinbeck, Breana Hinson, Katelyn Smith, 4:31.77
100 butterfly - 3. Breana Hinson, 1:03.54 | t-5. Katie Oosterhuis, 1:05.33
200 freestyle - 3. Kate Minette, 2:04.03 | 6. Katelyn Smith, 2:09.91
100 breaststroke - Maggie Steinbeck, 1:19.61
200 medley relay - 4. Keelin Curley, Maggie Steinbeck, Katie Oosterhuis, Kate Minette, 2:00.58
1650 freestyle - 5. Katelyn Smith, 19:43.60 | Maggie Steinbeck, 20:42.28 | Alaria Bode, 22:32.36
100 freestyle - 1. Kate Minette, 54.55 | 4. Keelin Curley, 56.20 | Breana Hinson, 58.19 | Katie Oosterhuis, 1:01.00
400 freestyle relay - 2. Keelin Curley, Katelyn Smith, Breana Hinson, Kate Minette, 3:47.68

Men's Meet Results
50 freestyle - Nathan Parkins, 27.07
100 butterfly - Jay Ceperley, 55.91
100 breaststroke - Jay Ceperley, 1:06.62 | Nathan Parkins, 1:18.46
100 freestyle - Jay Ceperley, 51.80 | Nathan Parkins, 59.15