Watson, Halle pace Women's Swimming and Diving on second day of Calvin (Mich.) Invitational

By Blake Moore

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Senior Kierra Watson (Brownsburg, Ind.) and junior Lauren Halle (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) each registered multiple individual top-10 efforts Saturday, November 3 as the Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving program concluded their weekend at the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational at the Venema Aquatic Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Polar Bears ended fifth overall in the five-team meet after posting 384.5 team points over the two-day event. No. 16-ranked Calvin won the meet with 964.5 points while Albion (Mich.), Carthage (Wisc.), and Hope (Mich.) ended second-through-fourth with 819.5, 777.5, and 520 points, respectively.

Watson registered a pair of fifth-place individual finishes in the 100-yard and 200-yard back events. The senior raced to a 1:01.95 in the former and a 2:15.92 in the latter to record the top finishes of the day for the Polar Bears.

Additionally, Watson would finish eighth in the 100 fly as she touched the wall in 1:02.98.

Meanwhile, Halle continued a solid weekend with two top-10 finishes on the event's final day. The Chandler, Arizona native started her day with a seventh-place effort in the 400 individual medley in 4:56.97. The junior would round out her weekend with a sixth-place mark in the 200 fly with a 2:16.39 touch.

The Polar Bears would place two within the top-10 finishers in the 200 breast, too, as juniors Katey Stuart (Ada) and Katelyn Koebel (Port Clinton) wound up sixth and ninth, respectively. Stuart would post a time of 2:38.05 while Koebel reached shortly after in 2:38.52.

Sophomore Marissa Taylor (Granite Falls, N.C./South Caldwell) and freshman Megan Lubinski (Milford/Brighton) rounded out the individual top-10 performances. Taylor finished ninth in the 200 yard back in 2:19.86, and Lubinski landed ninth in the 200 free in 2:03.35.

Northern would place two relays during the second day of action, starting with a fifth-place mark in the 200 medley relay. Watson, Stuart, Lubinski and junior Kyley Stuart (Ada) kicked off the morning session, capturing the top-10 effort in 1:54.17.

Lubinski, Kyley Stuart, and Watson then joined freshman Lauren Shaw (Port Clinton) to finish seventh in the 400 free relay to conclude the meet in a 3:50.84.

Ohio Northern will break from action until Friday, November 16 when the Polar Bears host Wittenberg in a dual meet inside the ONU Sports Center Natatorium. Meet time is set for 6 p.m. in Ada.