Charger swimmers May, Babenko chase nationwide meet qualifying at Midwest Invitational in Chicago

Two high freshmen for the Hillsdale College girls’s swimming and diving workforce tried to increase their 2025-26 marketing campaign this previous weekend, heading to the Midwest Invitational on the University of Chicago in a bid to decrease their instances to qualify for the NCAA DII Women’s Swimming and Diving championships in March.

Sasha Babenko competed in 4 races for the Chargers, and continued a powerful freshman season with a brand new private better of 52.46 within the 100 freestyle. That time is also the fourth-fastest time in program historical past within the occasion, putting Babenko within the high 10 all-time at Hillsdale College in her seventh occasion in simply her first season with this system. Babenko additionally swam a time of 57.25 within the 100 backstroke, a time of 24.26 within the 50 freestyle and a time of 5:11.63 within the 500 freestyle.

Avery May, a standout freshman for the Chargers this season together with Babenko, additionally competed in three occasions in Chicago. May swam a time of 5:07.44 within the 500 freestyle, a time of 4:40.64 within the 400 particular person medley, and a time of 1:08.12 within the 100 breaststroke.

Both Babenko and May now await the official announcement of the NCAA DII Swimming and Diving Championship discipline this Wednesday, Feb. 25, to seek out out if they are going to be competing for All-American honors three weeks from now. If the pair qualify for the NCAA Championship, they might journey to Evansville, Indiana and the Deaconess Aquatic Center on March 10 by 14 to compete. Even if the 2 fall wanting the sector, they’ve had a promising begin to their careers and will probably be actual contenders to earn bids as sophomores in subsequent season’s competitors.