HUDSON — River Falls swimming and diving took on a tall task against a significantly larger squad in Hudson, but still had some good things to take away despite a 104-68 loss Thursday.

“Hudson is one of our tougher meets because they always have a large team and this year we don't,” River Falls Coach Caitlin Brudzinski said. “We actually used Hudson as a chance for athletes to swim some events that aren't normal so it was nice to see some variety and watch most of the swimmers try something out of their comfort zone.”

While many competed in different events than they are used to, that was not the case for Elise Gulick, who swam the 200 IM. The race was as competitive as it gets, with Gulick’s time of 2:20.56 narrowly beating Hudson swimmer Peyton Kline’s time of 2:20.68. The race left many looking at the big screen to see who reached the finish first, and Brudzinski said it was Gulick’s best time in the event by three seconds.

“When we go against those teams, we definitely emphasize focusing on what we're doing, how we're swimming, and what's going to make it a good swim for us,” Brudzinski said.

Avery Singel held things down for the Wildcats in the diving event, landing in second with a score of 208.45. The score to beat for the win was 215.40.

Events in the Big Rivers Conference are never easy, but Brudzinski feels the upcoming stretch will allow the team to pick up some wins while still focusing on what they are doing as a team.

“As a smaller team in both the Big Rivers and Division 1 for Sectionals, we focus a lot on the individual improvements,” Brudzinski said. “As long as I keep seeing the hard work and focus in practice, we'll continue to see improvements and we'll keep working to get everyone to their goals.”

As a team, they have seen the improvement they are looking for, with technique improvements coming with the time drops to prove it.

“We've already been seeing some time drops as we've been going,” Brudzinski said. “But they've also been improving technique and underwater while continuing to increase yardage at practice. I'm excited to see how the next month and a half goes.”

The Wildcats look to continue to trend in the right direction as the season marches on. River Falls heads to Eau Claire North for a matchup Thursday.

“I've seen resilience from the team this year,” Brudzinski said. “We started the year with a couple of non-conference dual meets that were close losses. Our first conference dual meet was against Rice Lake and it came down to the last couple of events. Each and every time they get up to race, they're giving their best effort.”