BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University Swimming and Diving Team had a marathon weekend that included a trip to Notre Dame College on Friday night before a home matchup with HCAC rivals Hanover and Manchester on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Bluffton traveled to South Euclid for a contest with Wooster and host Notre Dame College, warming up for some record-setting performances on its home turf in Lima on Saturday. The highlight was a Beaver victory over the Hanover women by a final tally of 61 points to 48 points! It nearly propelled the Beavers to an overall victory over the Panthers (Hanover 90 combined to 86 Bluffton combined).

Blazing her way to a school record in the 500 yard freestyle was Grace Beck (Lima/Homeschooled) who took nearly one minute off the previous mark with a time of 6:16.73! She followed that up with a victory lap in the 50 free (25.50). 

Also moving to the top of the Bluffton charts was sophomore Sydney Grisier (Bryan) who took second in the 1000 yard freestyle with a school-record 15:59.42 which sliced over a minute and a half off the former mark.

Grisier dominated the diving competition Saturday with a six-dives score of 140.05 before coming back with an 11-dives tally of 257.05 which is 2nd all-time at Bluffton. Her 7:29.20 in the 500 yard free at Notre Dame boosted her to 4th all-time for the Beaver women.

Freshman Grant Patton (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) continued his outstanding rookie campaign with a 3rd place finish in the 100 backstroke on Saturday, giving him the top four times in Bluffton's record chart! Sophomore Riley Bruns (Maria Stein/Marion Local) also notched a 3rd place showing at the Lima YMCA, swimming a 1:24.84 in the 100 yard breaststroke.

Bluffton will put in a full week of training before making the long trek to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Heartland Conference Championships. The four-day event is slated to kick off on Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Vigo County Aquatic Center.

-BEAVERS-