The University of Mary Marauders

2017-2018
Karyssa Nelson had a great second season with the Marauders Swimming and Diving Program. Dragon Invite: Karyssa Nelson helped the Marauders take second place on the 200 yard medley relay. Karyssa swam the 200 yard backstroke and took third place for the Marauders. Additionally, she placed second in the 100 yard backstroke and 50 yard freestyle. She took third in the 100 yard freestyle and helped the 400 yard medley relay to second place finish and the 800 yard freestyle relay to a third place finish 2018 NSIC Championship, Sophomore Karyssa Nelson helped the 200 yard medley relay team take the podium for the first time in the UMary program's two-year history. Combining with Zajdzinski, Mackenzie Houston and Alyssa Boese, the four Marauders combined for a school-record time of 1:49.63 to place seventh in the conference. Additionally Nelson set a program record in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 24.80 and was a part of the school record setting 200 free relay where she combined with Houston, Williamson and  Smith for a school record mark of 1:39.73. On the final day of the championships Karyssa Nelson placed 13^th in both the 200 back(2:11.93), and 100 yard freestyle (53.82) finals, and was a member the Marauders 400 freestyle relay where she teamed with Boese, Zajdzinski, & Smith for an eighth-place.

2016-2017
BISMARCK, ND: Competed in nine dual meets and at the NSIC Conference.  Karyssa Nelson barely fell short of capturing the 50 yard freestyle, checking in at 25.96 to the 24.79 posted by USF's Ingelin Lima. ABERDEEN, SD: Karyssa Nelson recorded her best time of the season in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing the event in 25.73 seconds. COBBER’S INVITE Boese, Murphy and Moriarty collaborated with Karyssa Nelson to win the 400 yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:50.71. The Marauders started the day with a win in the 200 yard medley relay by Nelson. Putti, Meghan Mokhtary and Sam Behm. ROCHESTER INVITE  
Mary opened the day with a school mark in the 800 yard freestyle relay. The quartet of Elizabeth Moriarty, Kate Murphy, Karyssa Nelson and Alyssa Boese combined for a time of 8:11.27, beating the team's previous best time by 7.29 seconds. Overall the Marauders finished 15^th out of 25 teams in the event. Nelson posted a new school mark in the 50 yard freestyle (25.49). On the 200 yard freestyle relay, the team of Nelson, Moriarty, Sam Putti and Murphy dropped their best time to 1:43.17. The Marauders closed out the meet on a high note, taking 11^th overall in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Moriarty, Murphy, Nelson and Boese swam a combined time of 3:39.96 to break the school record by over 10 seconds. DRAGON INVITE Karyssa Nelson claimed fourth in the 50 yard backstroke, just .17 seconds out of third. She also finished fifth in the 100 yard freestyle in a finals time of 57.35 seconds. A third place marking in the 800 yard freestyle was the best relay finish for Mary at the Dragon Invite. Putti, Murphy, Karyssa Nelson and Boese combined for a time of 8:20.69. BISMARCK PENTATLON: Placing ninth overall for the Marauders was Karyssa Nelson with a combined time of 3:07.37. In the freestyle Murphy, Karyssa Nelson, Moriarty and Sam Putti claimed spots three through six. NSIC The Marauders earned their final points of the conference championships opening day in the 200 yard medley relay. The foursome of Karyssa Nelson, Meghan Mokhtary, Elizabeth Moriarty and Sam Putti combined to place 11^th with a clocking of 1:52.02. Second day of NSIC The Marauders 400 yard medley relay team of Boese, Elizabeth Mokhtary, Moriarty and Karyssa Nelson swam the event of 4:03.27, a season-best mark by nearly five seconds, to place 10th in the event. For the second straight semester, Karyssa Nelson representing the Marauders earned the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team honors after posting a team grade point average of 3.50 during the 2017 spring semester. Karyssa contributed to the program in the freestyle and backstroke events.

PRIOR TO UMARY
A two-time team captain and MVP at Columbia Falls (Mont.) High School, Karyssa Nelson earned all-state honors in the 50 freestyle. Owner of all records for Columbia Falls, she twice earned all-conference honors in the 100 backstroke and once in the 100 free while helping establishing swimming at her high school. Nelson also competes for the Wave Ryders Swim Club and is a two-year letter winner in cross country. A summer league swim team coach who is a member of the student council, Key Club and has earned school honor roll and academic all-state honors, Karyssa is the daughter of Mike and Tina Nelson and will pursue the pre-medicine program at the University of Mary.
 
"Karyssa has a lot of untapped potential and upside to her swimming," said Marauders head coach Allan McCallum. "It will be a lot of fun working with her as she continues to grow as a sprinter and backstroker. She comes from a swimming family and I am excited about the contributions Karyssa will bring to our program in and out of the water."