MOORHEAD, Minn. – In the first action of the 2010-11 season, the Northern State University swimmers took on the Minnesota State University Moorhead program in an early-season dual, falling to the Dragons by a 190-88 margin despite a pair of first place finishes from junior Christine Retzlaff and one from freshman Ashley LaFave.

Retzlaff, a returning second team all-conference performer from last season, sparked her season with wins in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 400 individual medley.  LaFave also came up big in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing that race in 1:09.72.

The Wolves also got solid performances from freshman Mikaela Waiflein in the 1,000-yard freestyle event, as she finished second with a time of 11:30.50.  Fellow freshman Kari Engelkes was also second in the 5- free (26.12 seconds), while sophomore Allie Samuels finished with runner-up status in the 200 breaststroke with a personal best time of 2:46.52.

“This was a great team effort for our opening meet of the season, said NSU head coach Elyce Kastigar.  “The hard work in and out of the pool is definitely making an impact on this team.  It is exciting to see many personal best performances this early in the season, but we have to continue to focus in on refining the races from start to finish.”

The Wolves are off next weekend, but back in the pool on Nov. 5-6 for a double-dual against the University of Minnesota-Morris and Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa.