OMAHA, Neb. – The 2022-23 swimming & diving season opened Friday night with a meet between Omaha and St. Cloud State. The Maverick women earned a 144.5-93.5 win, while the men narrowly fell, 129-114.
 
The women start their season 1-0, while the men fall to 0-1. The women's victory marks interim head coach Jessica Hessel's first win at the helm.
 
"Tonight was a great start to the season," said Hessel. "Our divers threw some great dives, and we saw some exciting times from our swimmers. Times aren't so much the focus in September, competing is, and we really showed a lot of heart in our swims. I know the men were hungry for the win but they never backed down and kept chasing. The women came out with the win and never let off the gas. That mentality will lead these men and women to a lot of success this season."
 
Friday's action started with a 400-medley relay team of Gracie Streblow, Caroline Gardner, Annika Harthoorn, and Hailey Matthews taking first with a time of 3:53.62, while Mason Schroeder, Amir Haviv, AJ Swibold, and Caleb Miller earned second for the men with a time of 3:27.50.
 
In the 1000-free, Carina Monroe claimed second with a time of 10:53.70, and Rylee Trojan earned third with a time of 10:59.86. The Maverick men took second through fourth in the event with Nick Walkey (10:07.41), Alex Becker (10:20.15), and Luke Asbury (10:25.83).
 
Hailey Matthews then captured the team's first individual first-place finish with a time of 1:55.15 in the 200-free. Kadence Jeffries (1:56.08) and Parker Hagemann (1:57.61) rounded out the top-three. The men took second through fifth place in the event with Miller leading the way. He used a time of 1:46.08 for second place.
 
Gracie Streblow came out on top in the 50-free with a time of 24.35. Rachel Shelstad finished closely behind with a time of 24.63. Grant Waszak placed second in the same event with a time of 21.40. Owen Hoak took third shortly after with a time of 21.54.
 
In the 200-IM, Olivia Dendinger tallied her first ever first-place finish swimming a time of 2:11.33. Annie Leinart took second with a time of 2:14.03. Amir Haviv picked up his first top-three individual finish as a Maverick in the event with a time of 1:57.71.
 
Harthoorn placed first in the 100-fly two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher with a time of 57.77, while Swibold took second with a time of 52.48.
 
The Maverick women claimed first, second, and third in the 100-free. Easley earned first with a time of 53.06. Hagemann and Shelstad took second and third with times of 54.54 and 54.71, respectively. Grant Schaeffer and Waszak took first and second for the men with times of 47.33 and 47.58.
 
Another sweep of the top three came for Omaha in the women's 100-back. Streblow was the lone swimmer with a time under a minute. She recorded a time of 57.96. Olivia Theil (1:01.19) and Abigail Mitchell (1:01.36) took second and third. Schroeder took second for the men with a time of 53.35, while Jace Walker (53.53) and Asbury (53.62) challenged each other for third and fourth-place.
 
Matthews earned her second top finish of the night with a time of 5:11.53 in the 500-free. Jeffries, Monroe, and Heidi Lenarz each placed in the top-five. Michael Johnson was the men's top finisher with a time of 4:55.53 for second place. Walkley and Luke Muse earned top-five finishes.
 
Haviv took home first in the 100-breast with a time of 57.90. Brandon Cheong (58.51) and Chas Nolte (59.24) grabbed third and fourth, respectively.
 
Swimming events wrapped up with the 200-free relay. Hadley Keinath, Walkley, Muse, and Becker earned second for Omaha with a time of 1:24.82.
 
Darby Drake came out on top in the 1M-diving events posting a score of 251.03. In her first ever meet, Sam Klein placed second with a score of 231.83 in the 1M-dive. Klein was Omaha's top finisher in the 3M-dive with a score of 223.13 for third.
 
David Goodwin and Cort Chiodo also took the top two spots for the Mavericks in the 1M-dive. Goodwin posted a score of 236.18 for first, while Chiodo finished second with a score of 232.50. In the 3M-dive, Chiodo placed third with a score of 195.08. Goodwin placed fourth with a score of 186.83.

"I'm very pleased with how our divers competed this evening," said diving coach Eric Sprague. "This is the best my team has looked this early in a season even though we've had another fall of facility challenges that has made training routines less than ideal.The whole group has responded very well to these challenges, and I believe it will make us mentally tougher when the pressure is on as the season progresses.  We had four freshmen really step up and provide some points for the team in their first ever meet. Goodwin showed a lot improvement this evening with his best performance ever on 1-meter.  Drake came out and performed at her usual high level with a victory on 1-meter, and I'm excited to see her push to achieve some lofty goals she's set for herself.

"I'd also like to take a moment to congratulate head coach Hessel. She got her first win with the women's team this evening as the head coach of her Alma Mater, and I'm proud to have been a part of it."
 
Omaha returns to action Friday, Oct. 14. The meet is set for 6 p.m. in Colorado.