OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha swimming & diving team was back in action Friday afternoon with a meet vs. UNI at H&K Pool. The teams swam 11 relays and competed in two diving events to close 2021 action.
 
"It is always fun to mix up the traditional meet – this time we created a relay meet," said head coach Todd Samland. "Everyone is relying on the other which gives us a greater reason to pull out our best efforts. It felt like we had good energy today, but we were definitely tired from this week as finals week wrapped up. It is time to recharge as we head into a very taxing segment of our training before we start tapering for the conference championships."
 
The Mavericks earned four first place, eight second place, and four third place finishes vs. the Panthers.
 
Omaha opened the meet with first in the 500-Medley Relay. Caroline Gardner, Annika Harthoorn, Gracie Streblow, and Hailey Matthews took the top spot with a time of 4:56.72.
 
A team of Carina Monroe, Rylee Trojan, and Maddie Mather followed up the first event with a second-place finish in the 3x300-Free Relay with a time of 9:19.15.
 
Another second-place time of 3:00.76 came in the 3x100-Fly Relay swam by Harthoorn, Parker Hagemann, and Bethany Gatlin. The Mavericks also picked up third in the event with a time of 3:06.88 by Sadie Khalil, Olivia Wassink, and Payton Krug.
 
Omaha placed second in the 3x100-Back Relay. Streblow, Olivia Theil, and Lilly Stafford swam a time of 2:58.38. Another second-place finish came in the 200-Medley Relay. Theil, Jillian Altmaier, Trojan, and Morgan Baker put together a time of 1:49.72.
 
The second first place time from the Mavericks came in the 500-Free Relay. Hagemann, Matthews, Payton Easley, and Wassink led Omaha in the pool with a time of 4:48.59.
 
In the 3x100-Medley Relay, Omaha took home second and third. Gardner, Krug, and Annie Leinart swam a time of 3:07.00 for second, while Khalil, Heidi Lenarz, and Mallory Dickey placed third with a time of 3:14.55.
 
A team of Streblow, Harthoorn, Caroline Dye, and Gatlin swam a time of 1:41.19 in the 200-Free Relay. It marked the fourth fastest time by an Omaha crew this season.
 
Altmaier, Baker, Hagemann, and Monroe followed up the 200-Free Relay with second in the 850-Free Relay. They swam a time of 8:39.21 for first in the event. Omaha also placed first in the 300-Breast Relay. Gardner, Leinart, and Altmaier earned it with a time of 3:23.20.
 
In the final event, Omaha placed second in the 8x50-Free Relay. Easley, Matthews, Hageman, and Streblow swam a time 3:18.30.
 
In the diving events, Kady Eller led the way for the Mavericks. She earned second in the 1M-Dive with a score of 223.88. She then posted a third-place finish and score of 231.00 in the 3M-Dive event. Holly Bernardin placed third in the 1M-Dive with a score of 211.28.
 
Omaha returns to action next calendar year. Both the men and women will compete on Jan. 14 at Midland. The Mavericks then return to H&K Pool for their final home meet of the season vs. Augustana on Jan. 15 at 2 p.m.