Swimming & Diving | 2/12/2025 8:29:00 PM

WEST FARGO, N.D. – MSU Moorhead saw standout showings across the board on day one of the NSIC Swimming & Diving Championships. 
 
After one day of competition, MSUM sits in sixth place with 104 points. 
 
Fernanda Leon would lead the Dragons in the morning session, clocking a 2:07.6 to finish sixth in the 200-yard IM preliminaries. Leon would qualify for the A-final in the event with the showing, which is a personal best and the second-fastest time in school history. In the same preliminaries, Rose Urick (2:20.49) would register a personal best while Linnea Edgren clocked a season best 2:22.56. Kelsey Jackson would touch the wall at 2:21.51 in the same preliminaries. 

Leon would mark an even faster time in the event finals later in the evening. The true freshman would register a 2:07.49 to finish fifth overall and land on the NSIC Championships podium for the first time. 
 
Sophia Verke would qualify for the B-final in the 50-yard freestyle, marking a 24-flat time. Demi-Lee Carlisle would notch a spot in the C-final behind a time of 24.39 in the same preliminaries. Maggie Moore (24.70) would narrowly miss a C-final qualification in the same event.
 
Verke would go on to win the B-final in the evening, clocking a personal best time of 23.90. The time now stands alone as the fourth-fastest 50-yard freestyle in MSUM history. 
 
Cami Mayo would cap the morning for the Dragons with a personal best in the 1000-yard freestyle. Mayo secured a 10:47.24 time to place fifth in the morning heats with the time now the third-fastest in program history. Coming into the NSIC meet, Mayo had a top time of 11:15.86 in the 1000-yard freestyle. After the event's final heat in the evening, Mayo landed in 12^th place overall. 
 
Taylor Cook would swim a personal best in the same event's preliminaries, marking an 11:33.43. Cook's previous best was 11:45.91. 
 
In relay action, the 200-yard medley squad of Carlisle, Verke, Urick and Ruth Pavelski would finish sixth in the A-final with a time of 1:46.75. The mark now becomes the fifth-fastest time in program history. MSUM's team of Lacie Stark, Edgren, Leon and Lily Lengerich would earn a sixth-place finish in the B-final with a mark of 1:52.06
 
To wrap the first day, MSUM turned in one of the most stirring performances ever in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Moore would leadoff the race with a blazing split of 1:56.38, now the sixth-fastest 200-yard freestyle in program history. Overall, Moore, Leon, Carlisle and Verke clocked a finishing time of 7:46.01 to finish fourth. The time is now the second-fastest in program history with the school record mark at 7:45.45. 
 
In the B-final, the Dragon team of Mayo, Cook, Kelsey Jackson and Joanna Phillips would place eighth behind a time of 8:17.63. 

The NSIC Swimming & Diving Championships are set to continue at 10 a.m. tomorrow.