Tommies close day one of home invite in third

ST. PAUL, MINN. – The University of St. Thomas men's and women's swim and dive programs found plenty of success in the pool on the first day of the St. Thomas Invite. Both the men and women finished in third place, scoring over 300 points each in their first invite of the 2024-25 season. The St. Thomas women currently sit in third place behind South Dakota and South Dakota State with a score of 303, while the men are also in third with a score of 302.

WOMEN'S RESULTS:
The Tommies set the tone for the weekend early Thursday, as the St. Thomas "A" team broke the program record in the 200 freestyle relay, the first event of the evening session. The team of Maddie Francois (Sartell, Minn. / Sartell), Ellie Undem (Chisago City, Minn. / Chisago Lakes), Libby Fischer (Eagan, Minn. / Visitation) and Grace Forsberg (Rice Lake, Wis. / Rice Lake) earned a second place finish in the relay thanks to their time of 1:33.45. The time was also .05 faster than the program record set in 2017 by Tina Molitor, Emma Paulson, Katelyn Strauss and Alex Howard at the MIAC Championships.

Sophia Hayes (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville Central) claimed the highest finish of any Tommie swimmer on Thursday, as she finished second in the 500 freestyle after qualifying for the "A" finals with a time of 5:01.15. The sophomore was consistent in finals, nearly repeating her prelim performance to finish second with a time of 5:01.31. Six different St. Thomas swimmers qualified for "C" finals to earn top-20 finishes, including Elizabeth Bonneville (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South), Jin-Jae Robinson (Galena, Ohio / Olentangy Berlin), Ashley Plantenberg (Eden Prairie, Minn. / Eden Prairie), Gwen Moore (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) and Megan Toal (San Clemente, Calif. / San Juan Hills).

Tessa Jones (Marengo, Ill. / Marian Central Catholic) was the Tommies top performer in the 200 IM, earning a ninth place finish with a time of 2:09.53. Amber Hess (Kohler, Wis. / Kohler) and Kathryn Bonneville (Lakeville, Minn. / Visitation) finished 12-13, while Madison Parkin (Eden Prairie, Minn. / Eden Prairie) and Willow Larson (Fairfield, Iowa / Fairfield) earned top-18 finishes as well.

Undem's impressive performance in the 200 freestyle relay carried over to the 50 free. The first year clocked the fourth fastest time in prelims to earn her spot in the "A" finals. She would ultimately finish in fourth thanks to a time of 23.78. Teammates Francois and Fischer both qualified for "B" finals, while Forsberg earned a place in the "C" finals.

The St. Thomas "B" team was the top finisher in the 400 relay. The team of Forsberg, Plantenberg, Lily Linden (Rochester, Minn. / Century) and Francois finished in seventh thanks to a season best time of 3:55.68.

Hattie Opdahl (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) finished second in the 1-meter fiving competition with a six-dive score of 211.30. Zoey Johnson (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) finished fourth with a score of 207.75 in finals, just .05 shy of her career best.

UP NEXT
Thanks to these and several other performances, St. Thomas sits in third place as a team with 303 points. The Tommies will resume action at the St. Thomas Invite as day two is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 22.

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Players Mentioned

Elizabeth Bonneville

Kathryn Bonneville

Libby Fischer

Grace Forsberg

Maddie Francois

Sophia Hayes

Amber Hess

Zoey Johnson

Tessa Jones

Lily Linden

Gwen Moore

Hattie Opdahl

Madison Parkin

Ashley Plantenberg

Jin-Jae Robinson

Megan Toal

Ellie Undem

University of St. Thomas Athletics