Seven Husky alumni – three swimmers and four wrestlers – competed at the collegiate level this winter. Here’s how they did.
Paige Chafin (2022)
The freshman, wrestling for Eastern Oregon, qualified for the NAIA National Championships after taking fifth place in the 116-pound weight division at the NAIA Women’s Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships, winning three matches and losing two.
At the national tournament Chafin advanced from a bye in the first round but lost 10-0 in the round of 16 to fourth-seed Camille Fournier of Texas Wesleyan, who went on to finish second in weight division.
Chafin won her first consolation match 8-4 over Alesandra Burgos of Brewton Parker, but then lost 12-1 to sixth-seeded Cailin Campbell of Grand View.
Megan Hager (2020)
The junior continued her upward climb in her third season swimming for Colorado State University, posting personal bests in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles.
Hager improved her eighth-place program ranking in the 200 Freestyle, dropping to 1:50.14, and placed in three events at the Mountain West Conference Championships for the second time. She was 14th in both the 100 and 200 events and 15th in the 50 Freestyle.
Hager also swam legs on the 400 and 800 free relays which rank third and second, respectively, in school history. In the classroom, she was named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District.
Kami Hart (2022)
The freshman, wrestling for Linfield, finished seventh in the 170-pound weight division at the NNational Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship Region V tournament.
Hart pinned Symphanie Sampson of Schreiner in 0:43, but was then pinned by Aubrey Yauger of Texas Women’s University in 1:18.
In her next match Hart was again pinned, this time by Samantha Vasquez of Colorado Mesa, in 0:35, but then bounced back to pin Sampson again in the seventh-place match, this time in 1:46.
Malia ‘Josie’ Hewitt (2022)
The freshman, swimming for Colorado College, earned all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference honors with a second-place finish in the 200 Breaststroke in a school-record time of 2:22.18 at the conference championships. At the event Hewitt also broke her own school record and finished second in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:05.16, touching the wall less than one second behind champion Josie Gillentine of Trinity University.
She was, additionally, a part of the 400 Medley Relay team which finished second in the conference with a time of 3:54.59. Hewitt just missed all-SCAC honors with a fourth-place finish in the 200 Individual Medley. Hewitt was part of the 200-yard Medley Relay squad that finished second as well, with a time of 1:46.23.
Marissa Kurtz (2019)
Wrestling for Southern Oregon at the Mike Clock Women’s Open in the 116 pound division, the junior pinned Eastern Oregon’s Irma Retano in 1:04 and the unaffiliated Karen Nava in 2:11, but lost two other matches. At the Missouri Valley Open, she pinned Brooke Cox of Doane in 2:19, but lost two other matches. Kurtz also pinned Ottawa’s Angelique Martinez in 1:05 in a dual match.
Travis Thorpe (2020)
The sophomore, wrestling for Southern Oregon, finished fifth in the 157-pound division at the Cascade Conference Championships. Entering the consolation bracket after a loss in the quarterfinals, Thorpe pinned Connor Harris of Montana State-Northern in 2:25.
He then lost a 6-4 match in the consolation semifinals, but rallied to beat Vincent Cramer of Eastern Oregon 9-3 in the fifth-place match.
Chloe Tyler (2022)
At the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America National Invitational Championship, the freshman, competing for Illinois State, was part of a 200-yard Medley Relay team that finished seventh with a mark of 1:41.23.
A few weeks prior at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, Tyler was part of the relay that broke Illinois State’s four-year-old 200-yard Medley Relay record.
The relay members secured a silver medal for the Redbirds with a mark of 1:40.17. It was Illinois State’s first silver in the 200-yard medley relay since 2014. The time crushed the previous school record of 1:41.65, set by 2019 bronze medalists.
– The New Era staff