HICKORY, N.C. - In its final meet of the calendar year, the Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Swimming Team came up short in a tri-meet event at home against UNC Pembroke and Milligan. 

The best results on the day for the Bears came in the relay events when they manufactured third place finishes in the 400-yard individual medley and 400-yard freestyle. 

In the individual medley relay event, the combined team of Ella Penny, Devin Poteat, Ann-Cathrine Beissel and Anna Buchert swam for a time of 4:12.11. In the freestyle relay event, the same group of LR swimmers registered a time of 3:50.18. 

In addition to their success on the relay events, Buchert finished fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke event with a time of 2:43.68 while Penny recorded a fourth-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:26.78 posting. Poteat also notched a fifth-place time of 2:02.97 in the 200-yard freestyle race. 

One of the best individual races for the Bears was the 1000-yard freestyle event, where Isabelle Hurd and Katelyn Toelle finished in the Top 5. Hurd slightly bested out Toelle for fourth place with a time of 11:57.19 while Toelle settled for fifth place with a time 12:06.46. 

The Bears also recorded some solid finishes in the backstroke events with Olivia DeRosier and Kara Bryant placing in the Top 5 for the 100-yard and 200-yard events, respectively. DeRosier finished fourth with a time of 1:05.27 while Bryant secured fifth with a time of 2:24.55. 

UP NEXT: The Lenoir-Rhyne Women's Swimming Team will be off for the remainder of 2023. The team will return to action on Friday, Jan. 5, for a dual meet against Converse in Spartanburg, S.C.