Rosko and Birklid making a splash in first triangular meet

This past weekend, the St. Ben’s swim and dive team traveled to Concordia, beating both Concordia and Jamestown in a triangular meet.

Sophomore Fiona Rosko won two events for St. Ben’s in the meet, the 200 meter fly and the 200 meter breaststroke.

Senior Ana Birklid also won two events for St. Ben’s. She won the 200 meter individual medley with a time of 2:17.21 and the 200 meter backstroke with a time of 2:15.60. Both Birklid and Rosko were major players in St. Ben’s victory this past weekend.

In diving, junior Emily Quill picked up a win with a score of 418.7 points in the one meter 11 dive competition. This was a national qualifying score, and she scored 18 points above the second place diver.

First year Sabrina Buffeta finished third in this event with a score of 336.65 points. This also helped the team win the tri-meet against Concordia and Jamestown.

St. Ben’s also had a great day outside these performances, with multiple second and third place finishes.

Sophomore Lindsay Smutka finished second in the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 2:06.67 and the 200 meter backstroke with a time of 2:21.95. Junior Jessica Milstroh finished second in two events as well with a time of 2:22.53 in the 200 meter individual medley, and a time of 2:24.57 in the 200 meter fly. Sophomore Laura Jennings helped the Bennies claim the top three spots in the 200 meter fly by finishing third with a time of 2:25.41.

Jennings also finished second in the 500 meter freestyle with 5:51.71 and senior Izzy Sonday got third in the same event with 6:00.84.

“Everyone really pushed themselves and we’re at the point in the season where we’re about to start letting up on the yardage to rest for the upcoming mid-season meet, so we’ve all been working hard to make the rest period coming count,” Rosko said.

She also said that she is focusing on preparing for the end of the season because of the extensive duration of the swimming season.

Rosko expects everything to come together and everyone will do great at the end of the season.

Coach Amanda Wolvert had high praise for the team.

“Both teams brought great competition and pushed the Bennies to bring their best to every race and dive…I’m excited to continue to cheer the divers and swimmers into the next half of their seasons,” Wolvert said.

She also praised Quill for her national qualifying score. Wolvert said that she is very excited to cheer on the swimmers and divers in the second half of the season.

St. Ben’s look to win another tri-meet on Nov. 20 against University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Kate’s.