MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's swimming and diving team will make the long trek east to compete at Northern Michigan starting on Friday and continuing on Saturday. MSUM will compete in two separate duals each day against host Northern Michigan and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe St. Cloud State.

Competition begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and on 10 a.m. on Saturday in Marquette, Mich.

Northern Michigan is 1-1 in duals on the season, with a win over Hillsdale and a loss to Grand Valley State.  The weekend competition will mark the regular season opener for St. Cloud State, which is the defending NSIC champion.

MSUM will look for its first-ever win over St. Cloud State in competition.

Last time out
MSUM (1-0 duals) got off to strong start with a dominating 162-98 win over Northern State on Oct. 11. The big win came despite the diving competition being exhibition that evening.

The Dragons won 10 events on the day, led by junior Megan Sanford with two wins.

 Sophomore Annika Bordak had a solid day for the Dragons. She won the 200 backstroke at 2:14.34 and placed second in the 100 butterfly at 1:01.64.  She also led off the winning 400 medley relay -- which also included senior Kelli Nadeau, junior Susie Kitzman and senior Megan Rieland with a strong 1:00.65 time in the 100 backstroke (which was more than three seconds faster than her first meet of time of 1:03.97 a year ago).  The winning 400 medley relay time was 4:08.15.

Bordak also was part of the winning 200 freestyle relay, which won with a time of 1:40.67. That included Kitzman, sophomore and Rieland. Bordak's leadoff time of 25.73 was a lifetime-best.

Rieland was part of both winning relays. She anchored the 200 free relay with a time of 24.39 and the 400 medley relay with 55.16, which are both comparable to her conference times. She also swam the 100 backstroke for the first time in her career and nearly won the event with a fast 1:03.45. Her 100 fly time of 1:02.24 was faster than she swam at conference last year.

Junior Megan Sanford won the 1,000 free and the time for her first 500 (5:35) was faster than the 500 she swam at the alumni meet on Sept. 28. She won the 200 breaststroke at 2:33.16 and also swam a lifetime-best of 2:21.19 in the 200 IM.

Freshman Amber Helgoe won her first college event with a time of 26.14 in the 50 free. Senior Angelee Hale won the 200 free at 2:03.12, while sophomore Jackie Woods cruised to a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.55. Kitzman captured the 100 free with a time of 55.90.

Northern Michigan/St. Cloud State Double Duals Schedule
Friday Events:                                                 
400 medley relay                                              
1650                                                                 
200 free                                                             
50 free                                                               
400 IM                                                             
(break)                                                            
200 fly                                                             
100 free                                                             
200 back                                                            
500 free                                                              
(Break)                                                             
200 breast                                                   
400 free Relay                                                   
                                                                        
Saturday events:
200 medley relay
1,000 free
200 free
50 back
50 breast
100 fly
50 free
(break)
100 free
100 back
100 breast
500 free
50 fly
(break)
200 IM
200 free relay