Season Recap

2011 Season Recap

Under the guidance of first year head coach Mark Benishek, the Saint Mary's swimming team had several individual and team successes in the 2010-11 season.

The team opened their season at the Dennis Stark Relays hosted by the University of Notre Dame. The Belles finished in fourth place, just six points behind NCAA Division I Valparaiso. Saint Mary's scored third-place points in the 400 medley relay, the 400 backstroke relay, and the 400 free relay at the event.

A month and a half later, the Belles took a very respectable fifth place at the University of Chicago's Phoenix Fall Classic. After moving up from seventh place to fifth, the team secured the fifth place finish in large part to A final finishes by Katie Griffin, Katie Roddy, and Audrey Dalrymple in the final day of the event. In all, nine different swimmers made an A final in either an individual or relay event for the Belles at the three-day event.

In the Belles' final meet of the year before the MIAA Championships, the Saint Mary's A relay in the 400 free relay finished in first place to lift the team to their first dual win since January 2009 as Saint Mary's defeated Alma by a 137-126 margin.

The swimming team capped off their season with a strong team performance at the MIAA Swimming and Diving Championships in February. Despite not having any divers on the team, the Belles finished fifth of seven teams competing in the three-day event.

At the championships, each member of the Saint Mary's swim team improved their time from earlier in the season in at least one event. In addition to those personal achievements, several members of the team had their hands in setting seven new school records by the end of the season.

Audrey Dalrymple '12 and Ellie Watson '13 both were named All-MIAA at the conclusion of the season. It marks the first time in school history that two swimmers have earned all-conference accolades. The pair both achieved NCAA B cut times while being among the Belles swimmers to break school records in 2011.