MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead swimming & diving is set to host the annual Dragon Invite on Friday and Saturday at the Hulbert Aquatic Center in West Fargo, N.D. Competition will begin with a finals session on Friday at 5 p.m. with a pair of sessions (10 a.m./4p.m.) taking place on Saturday. 

Live video will be available both days on msumdragons.com. Teams competing at the meet include MSU Moorhead, Concordia College, Sioux Falls, University of Mary, University of Jamestown and Concordia, St. Paul. 

MSUM has not competed since the annual Rochester Invitational on December 5-7.

On day one of the Rochester Invitational, Isabelle Johnson would look strong in 3-meter diving preliminaries for the Dragons, earning an 11-dive mark of 366.35. Johnson would place ninth in preliminary action as Zoe Bjerke would be right behind Johnson in 10th place. Bjerke registered a score of 342.05 with Ruth Guy scoring a 156.15. 

Sophia Verke would swim a strong 50-yard freestyle final, placing seventh in the championship final of the event. The sophomore touched the wall at 24.47 with Demi-Lee Carlisle placing fifth in the consolation final behind a solid mark of 24.30. Maggie Moore would win the D-final of the event, clocking a 24.70, over a second faster than the runner-up competitor. Joanna Phillips put in a 25.96 to finish fourth in the same heat. 

Fernanda Leon would pace the Dragons on the first day, finishing fourth in the championship final of the 200-yard IM. The freshman would clock a 2:09.08 to earn the finish while Kelsey Jackson would place sixth in the C-final with a time of 2:18.89. Rose Urick would win the D-final in the same event with a time of 2:21.18. The freshman Leon would also see a strong swim in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing fifth in the championship final. Leon clocked a 57.93, narrowly missing an NCAA B-standard mark of 56.04. Ruth Pavelski would earn a third-place finish in the C-final of the same event with a time 58.82. 

Day two would see relay action would begin the finals session as the MSUM team of Demi-Lee Carlisle, Ruth Pavelski, Maggie Moore and Sophia Verke would finish eighth in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The squad posted a time of 1:37.75, just narrowly outside the top five in program history. Verke anchored with a 23.78 split.

Verke would earn MSUM's second spot in a championship final in the 200-yard freestyle. The sophomore finished third in the final, touching the wall at 1:54.84, just nanoseconds off her personal best swim. Moore would clock a 2:00.85 in the C-final of the same event. Rose Urick would win the C-final of the 100-yard breaststroke, turning in a time of 1:08.73. Pavelski earned a 1:10.81 time in the same heat. In the 100-yard backstroke, Carlisle would swim a 59.10 to place fifth in the consolation final. Stark would clock a 1:00.86 in the C-final of the same event. 
 
To wrap the meet on Saturday, Leon would win the 200-yard butterfly preliminaries with a stirring mark of 2:07.35, opening with a 29.15 split. The true freshman would earn fourth-place marks in the championship final, swimming a 2:08.75. In distance swimming, Cami Mayo finished 11^th in the 1650-yard freestyle, clocking a time 18:22.04. 
 
Kelsey Jackson would clock a 2:11.58 in the 200-yard backstroke preliminaries to qualify for Saturday's finals. Jackson would place seventh in the consolation final later in the evening with a time of 2:14.03.  
 
Verke would swim a 52.80 in the 100-yard freestyle preliminaries, placing sixth overall. She would earn a fifth-place finish in the championship final with a time of 52.57. Carlisle would touch the wall at 54.23 in the same preliminary. The senior would go on to win the C-final of the event behind a time of 54.05. Verke would also swim in the 100-yard IM preliminaries, finishing 14^th overall behind a time of 1:01.48. The sophomore placed third in the consolation final of the event with a time of 1:01.10. Pavelski (1:02.37) and Linnea Edgren (1:04.87) would turn in finals-qualifying marks in the same event. Pavelski would win the C-final, touching the wall at 1:02.10. 
 
Charlie King is in his seventh season as MSUM's head swimming & diving coach. 

Dragon Invite Meet Schedule

Friday Finals (5 p.m.)
200 Medley Relay
3 Meter Diving (6 dives optionals)
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
1650 Freestyle 
100 Butterfly
3 Meter Diving (5 dives voluntaries)
200 Free Relay

Saturday Prelim (10 a.m.)
200 Free                       
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke     
200 Butterfly
1000 Free
50 Free
200 Individual Medley
1 M Diving – (6 Dives Optionals)

Saturday Finals (4 p.m.)
400 Medley Relay
500 Free
50 Backstroke
50 Breaststroke
50 Butterfly
100 Freestyle
100 Individual Medley
1 M Diving – (5 dives Voluntaries)
400 Free Relay