NORMAL, Ill. – The McKendree University women's swimming and diving team took second place at its second meet of the 2022-23 season here Saturday at Illinois State University. The Bearcats garnered 81 points in the contest, including two first place finishes and top three finishes in 10 more events.
 
Despite many close finishes for both teams, the Redbirds would ultimately outscore the Bearcats 218-81 in the dual meet. 
 
Freshman Ana Cecilia Carvalho (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Loyola) posted a first place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:34.33, in addition to a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 5:07.84. Freshman Natalia Kralova (Poprad, Slovakia/Gymnazium Ivana Horvatha) also competed in the distance freestyle events, placing fourth in the 1,000-yard and third in the 500-yard.
 
McKendree also recorded six second place finishes in Saturday's meet, including two from freshman Jocelyn Zgola (Milwaukee, Wis./Greendale) in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.07 and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.00. Sophomore Karley Sonnenberg (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) finished second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.96, only .02 seconds behind leader Ella Turken from ISU. Rounding out the second-place finishers was freshman Keianna Moss (Nassau, Bahamas/Focus Point Academy) in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.94 and sophomore Sarah Gormley (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces) recording a 2:12.70 in the 200-yard individual medley. 

McKendree's 'A' 200-yard freestyle team also recorded a second place finish after recording a time of 1:39.13. The members of the team were Sonnenberg, sophomore Aurora Abbruscato (Reggio Emilia, Italy/I.I.S. Blaise Pascal), junior Alexis Kachkin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) and senior Abigail Rumpp (Knoxville, Tenn./L&N STEM Academy).

Among the third-place finishes for McKendree was the 'B' 200-yard medley relay team that posted a time of 4:08.45. The members of the third place relay team were Kachkin, freshman Rylee Sitton (Troy, Ill./Triad), redshirt freshman McKenzie Fazio (Eagle River, Alaska/Eagle River) and Abbruscato. Also taking third place was sophomore Gormley in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking a time of 1:09.07, while Sitton placed third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:29.87. Carvalho, in the 200-yard butterfly, swam to her third top-three finish of the day with a time of 2:09.20.
 
Two Bearcat divers also competed for the day as freshman Taylor Seibert (Plainwell, Mich./Plainwell) finished fourth and senior Andrea Menard Cordoba (Montreal, Quebec/College St. Ann) finished fifth in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events respectively. 
 
The Bearcats will compete next in a home tri-meet with Saint Louis and Oklahoma Christian on Oct. 21 and 22nd at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Ill.