CLEVELAND - The St. Bonaventure women's swim and dive team produced multiple finals appearances, season-best relay efforts, and strong swims across all event groups at the Cleveland State's Magnus Cup. Behind a combination of veteran leadership and impactful underclassmen performances, the Bonnies continued to build momentum toward February's Atlantic 10 Championships.

St. Bonaventure claimed a fifth-place finish in the team standings with 814 points. Akron took the team win (1523 points), ahead of Northern Colorado (1285), Bowling Green (1128) and Xavier (892). The Bonnies finished ahead of Cleveland State, Binghamton, Le Moyne and John Carroll in the final standings.

Freshman Sophie Baker was the Bonnies' leading individual scorer for the week, contributing valuable outputs with her third-place finishes in the 100-back and 50-back finals, recording times 55.78 and 25.21, respectively. She finished fifth in the 50-fly with her time of 24.97 and added points in the 50-free (23.39), 100-free (51.53 )and 100-fly (56.88).

Freshman Kate Hill led the charge for the Bonnies in the sprint events, advancing to the A-final of the 100-freestyle, where she clocked a 51.54 finish - good for 10th overall. Hill also scored in the 50-free, earning a finals bout and finishing in 23.59.

Junior Anna Bojana Forjan once again anchored the Bonnies' backstroke group. She reached the A-final in the 200-backstroke, where she placed second with her 1:58.48 finish - just shy of Akron's Avery Knight's 1:58.26. She also advanced to finals in the 100-back, again finishing second with a 55.36, and added a finals swim in the 50-back (26.35).

Senior Katie Beyer took seventh in that competitive 200-backstroke field with her time of 2:03.69. In the 200-free, Beyer reached finals and posted 1:53.81, good for 10th. She reached the finals in the 500-free as well, posting a 4:59.95 finish.

The Bonnies delivered some of their best relay performances of the season, with the 400-freestyle relay of Forjan, Baker, Hill and Nele Vetter posting a 3:24.83 race - good for third. The same team posted a 200-freestyle relay time of 1:33.42 to finish fifth. The 800-freestyle relay team of Forjan, Laila Chance, Beyer and Vetter placed fifth with their time of 7:36.84, while the 200 medley relay team of Forjan, Paris Christie, Baker and Hill (1:42.86) and the 400 medley relay team of Forjan, Sarah Gonzalez, Baker and Hill (3:46.20) finished sixth in their races.

On the boards, sophomore Dhavgely Mendoza earned finals placements on both 1-meter and 3-meter, posting 272.10 in the 1-meter finals and 305.10 in the 3-meter finals, good for second and first, respectively. Junior Lia Doskoris also delivered strong results, scoring 224.30 from the 1-meter board and 260.60 from the 3-meter mark (14th and fourth) to give Bonaventure a solid scoring presence throughout the diving events.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MIKE SMIECHOWSKI
"I'm very happy with how we performed at mid-season championships. As our culture continues to improve, I think we have set ourselves up nicely to have a great finish and compete with the top of the Atlantic 10 Conference."

UP NEXT
Following the mid-season break, the Bonnies will return to dual meet action at Cornell on Jan. 10.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Akron - 1523.5
2. Northern Colorado - 1285
3. Bowling Green - 1128.5
4. Xavier - 892
5. St. Bonaventure - 814
6. Cleveland State - 700.5
7. Binghamton - 632.5
8. Le Moyne - 134
9. John Carroll - 107

 

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