University of St. Thomas Athletics
Summit League Championships
Tommies make moves on final day of Summit League Championships
2/24/2024 10:11:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Women finish in sixth with 173 team points
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. –The University of St. Thomas women's swim and dive team could not have asked for a better ending to the 2024 Summit League Championship. Fueled by multiple top-8 finishes, the Tommies moved from eighth to sixth place as a team, closing the four day competition with 173 total team points. Grace Urkiel (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) concluded her St. Thomas career with another All-Conference honor, finishing third in the 200 breaststroke and breaking the school record in the process.
DAY FOUR: PRELIMS
The Tommies once again put together plenty of fantastic swims in Saturday's prelim session, with five swimmers qualifying for "A" or "B" finals. Graace Urkiel (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) continued to tear through the St. Thomas record book, as she broke the program record for the 200 breaststroke Saturday morning. The senior swam the third fastest time in prelims in the event, clocking a time of 2:17.50. In the process, she broke he own program record by two seconds, setting the scene for Saturday's final.
St. Thomas also saw swimmers qualify in the 1650 and 200 fly, including three in the latter event. Emily Wooden (Chino Hills, Calif. / Ayala) continued to impress in the butterfly races, as she qualified for "A" finals with a time of 1:07.17. Caroline Peterson (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) and Maggie Kolb (Afton, Minn. / Hill-Murray) were among the top-16 swimmers as well, as the duo qualified for "B" finals with times of 2:10.55 and 2:13.47 respectively.
DAY FOUR: FINALS
St. Thomas' day got even better during Saturday's finals session, highlighted by top-8 finishes from Urkiel and Hattie Opdahl. Urkiel's career finale at the Summit League Championship was capped off with another All-Conference finish, this time in the 200 breaststroke. After breaking the program record in prelims, Urkiel swam even faster in finals, earning her second All-Conference honor of the weekend with a third place finish and a time of 2:16.65.
Opdahl's Summit League debut was certainly one to remember. The first year was the lone Tommie diver, male or female, to qualify for finals, as she took the conference by storm in the 3-meter, six dive competition. After qualifying as one of the top-8 divers in the event, Opdahl would finish fourth overall thanks to a six-dive score of 250.20.
St. Thomas' 400 freestyle relay team closed out the Summit League Championships in style, earning a top-8 finish in the final event of the championship. The team of Urkiel, Grace Forsberg (Rice Lake, Wis./ Rice Lake), Libby Fischer (Eagan, Minn./ Visitation) and Ella Palmquist (Dundas, Minn. / Northfield) swam the race in 3:29.91. That time was good enough for sixth place, as the group earned 26 points towards the Tommies' overall score.
Peterson and Kolb concluded their trips to the Summit League Championship with top-16 finishes in the 200 fly. Peterson was the highest finisher for St. Thomas, as her time of 2:10.02 was good enough for 14th place in the event. Kolb would finish 16th with a time of 2:17.42.
Bonneville earned points for the Tommies in the 1650 free, finishing in 16th with a time of 18:09.97 in finals.
UP NEXT
On the final day of competition, St. Thomas moved up two spots in the team rankings, closing in sixth place with 173 total team points. Urkiel was the lone swimmer to each All-Conference honors for either team, as she earned second and third place finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststroke races. She additional swam an NCAA "B" cut time in the 100 breaststroke Friday evening.
Players Mentioned
