The Rutgers Scarlet Knights swimming and diving team began competition at the Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis on Thursday, participating in several events including the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley (IM), 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay, and the 1-meter dive.
The team achieved three new top-ten times in program history. In the preliminaries of the 200 IM, Ana Hazlehurst recorded a time of 2:00.41, which is her personal best at Rutgers and now ranks as the third-fastest time ever for the school in that event.
In the preliminary round of the 50 freestyle, Emilianna Gonzalez finished with a time of 22.54 seconds, placing her fourth all-time at Rutgers. Gonzalez had previously been recognized as both Big Ten Swimmer of the Week and Big Ten Freshman of the Week earlier this season. Anna Vlachou also set a notable mark in the same event by finishing with a time of 22.67 seconds, moving to seventh place in school history. She improved upon her earlier swim from that morning when she posted a time of 22.78 seconds.
During finals, the Rutgers A group—consisting of Emilianna Gonzalez, Anna Vlachou, Chiara Alberti, and Brooke Thompson—finished fifth in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:31.52.
Ana Hazlehurst placed eighth in the finals for the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:00.68. In the finals for the 50 freestyle, Emilianna Gonzalez tied for sixth place with a finish of 22.62 seconds while Vlachou took tenth place. The A squad for Rutgers also competed in the finals for the 400 medley relay and finished ninth with a time of 3:40.70.
In diving events, Sephora Ford was Rutgers’ top finisher in the one-meter competition with third place and a score of 288.75 points. Madilyn Varnum also placed within the top eight by securing seventh place at 267.40 points.
The Minnesota Invitational continues on Friday with events scheduled to include relays and individual races across multiple strokes and distances as well as three-meter diving.
