The Notre Dame Girls Swim team broke the top-10 for the first time in school history, placing 8th out of 36 teams at the MHSAA Division III Finals held at Eastern Michigan University.
Sophomore Rhianna Hensler defended her 100 Butterfly title from last year, placing first with a new DIII record time of 55.67. Hensler also earned another individual state title, with a win in the 50 Free, at 23.78.
Senior Julia Nellis had two top-16 finishes, placing 4th in the 100 Breaststroke (1:08.43) and 14th in the 100 Free (54.54). Freshman Lindsey Creek placed 13th in the 500 Free at 5:23.16, dropping over 13 seconds from her season-best time. Creek also placed 27 th in the 200 IM. Sophomore Libby Stacey placed 26th in the 50 Free and 28th in the 100 Free while Freshman Josi Honoway placed 37th in the 100 Breaststroke.
In the relays, the team of Creek, Nellis, Hensler and Stacey earned a 9th place finish in the 200 Medley Relay in a Notre Dame record time of 1:51.79. In the 400 Free Relay, the team of Hensler, Stacey, Creek and Nellis smashed the previous school record with a time of 3:40.77, placing 9th . The 200 Free Relay of Senior Sofia Pizzo, Sophomore Allison Healy, and Freshmen Josi Honoway and Rebecca Chow-Wah earned a 21st place finish with a season best time of 1:45.57.
“The girls came back strong from the Preliminaries, demonstrating the Fighting Irish spirit” said coach Nim Shapira. “As we’ve emphasized all season, they really connected the dots when they needed it most”.