By: Both the men and women were victorious on Saturday in a dual meet at Principia College.
ELSAH, Ill. – The Illinois College swimming teams both tasted victory in their final tune-ups before the Midwest Conference championships in late February. In a dual meet on Saturday at Principia College, the Blueboys downed the Panthers by a dominant 106-52 margin. The Lady Blues also held off the Panthers, winning 86-82.
The biggest highlight of the day came from
Martin Ambre in the 1000 Freestyle. Though the freshman swam the event as an exhibition since he was the only male swimming the event, he still took nearly 20 seconds off the previous Illinois College record, touching the wall in 10:48.27. For the Lady Blues,
Brooke Bauer and
Maddie Headtke swam the fourth- and fifth-fastest 1000 Freestyles in IC history, earning second and third in their race with times of 12:41.79 and 12:42.02.
Every point counted for the Lady Blues in their narrow victory, so it was an important 11 points that IC took from the opening 200 Medley Relay.
Audrey Earle,
Jackie Riggs,
Marcella Jacquemain and
Lindsay Bruce touched in 2:11.59, just getting past Principia's team, which swam a 2:13.53. For the Blueboys, the rout was on right from the beginning, though the opening relay was down to the wire. Ambre,
Oak Wattanasirakul, Eli Rhoad and
Mike Weisenfelder defeated Principia's relay by less than half-a-second, swimming a time of 1:45.14.
In the 200 Freestyle,
Lindsay Bruce (2:14.90) and
Brady Burden (1:59.79) each posted winning times for Illinois College. Earle added a victory in the 50 Freestyle, touching in 27.76 and picking up nine points while Shelby Barner of Principia swam a 27.77 and took just four from the race, providing another turning point for the Lady Blues.
In the 200 IM, Jacquemain ended with a 2:29.42 and was the winner as she was the only female to compete in the event.
Ben Allen took the 200 IM for the Blueboys, ending in 2:10.71 and also claimed the 100 Backstroke in 1:01.17. Later on in the day, Rhoad won the 100 Butterfly in 58.81 and Burden notched his second individual event win with a 53.63 in the 100 Freestyle.
Other event winners for Illinois College as the afternoon went along were Bauer in the women's 500 Freestyle (6:14.97), Ambre in the men's 500 Free (5:10.98), and Wattanasirakul in the 100 Breaststroke (1:04.23). Wrapping up the day, the women's team of Bauer, Earle, Jacquemain and Bruce took home the 200 Freestyle Relay in 1:53.43, while the men's team of Burden, Rhoad, Ambre and Weisenfelder easily outpaced the Panthers, finishing in 1:33.98.
Illinois College will have three weeks to prep for the MWC Championships. Grinnell College will host the three-day meet on Feb. 17, 18 and 19.
