GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Carthage College women's swimming and diving team delivered a strong performance at the 2026 Calvin Quad Meet on Friday and Saturday, finishing second overall with 1,013 points. The Firebirds finished behind Calvin University (1,338) in the four-team competition. Carthage was led by Gracie Forlenza and Lois Klinger, who each earned individual event victories.
Forlenza led the Firebirds with an individual event victory in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall in 2:11.69. She also finished second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:11.77 and sixth in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:01.72. Klinger added another first-place finish for Carthage, winning the 100-yard butterfly in 59.25. She also secured second place in the 200-yard butterfly, recording a time of 2:15.56.
The Firebirds received several other strong individual performances throughout the meet.
Myah Matthews earned third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:16.80.
Noelle Marsh finished sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 55.44, while
Lucy Brown placed eighth in the same event with a time of 55.98.
Alina Litewski added a fourth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 18:35.18.
On the diving boards,
Kendall Leistico led the Firebirds with a sixth-place finish in the three-meter diving event scoring 283.40. In the one-meter diving event, she scored 277.30 with an eighth place finish.
Isa Pico also recorded top-10 finishes, placing seventh in the three-meter event with 280.05 points and seventh in the one-meter event with 288.00 points.
Carthage's relay teams also contributed to the team's second-place finish. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of
Gracie Forlenza,
Noelle Marsh,
Emily Steinberg, and
Lucy Brown finished third in 1:41.29. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Marsh, Forlenza, Klinger, and Brown also took third place in 3:42.01. Additionally, Carthage's 200-yard medley relay team of
Ella Mesina, Marsh, Klinger, and Brown finished third in 1:52.18.
The Firebirds will return home to host Wheaton College (Ill.) on Saturday, November 14, at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center. The meet is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.
