By: The meet at Illinois Institute of Technology on Friday night marked the earliest start to a season since the program began in 2007.
CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois College men's and women's swimming teams began the 2017-18 season on Friday night in a meet that included St. Ambrose University and Illinois Institute of Technology. The mid-October start date for a competition was the earliest that the Blueboys and Lady Blues have begun a season since the program was brought back 10 years ago. No team scores were kept at the meet.
Illinois College had one event winner on the night, with multiple runner-up and other top finishes. In the women's 100 Freestyle,
Lindsay Bruce out-touched IIT's Tessa Skubal by .01, winning the race with a time of 1:00.30.
Audrey Earle finished sixth in the 100 Free in 1:04.61, while newcomer
Tia Parker was eighth in 1:05.08. Bruce also had a second-place finish in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:12.69, a race in which
Brooke Bauer logged a sixth-place finish of 2:23.01.
The Lady Blues had two other events in which they placed second.
Marcella Jacquemain took the silver in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:10.05.
Hannah Baker was second-best in the 100 Backstroke, hitting the wall in 1:07.66.
Other top finishes for the IC women included a third-place finish for
Maddie Headtke in the 1000 Freestyle (13:06.57), a third-place finish for
Hannah Marks in the 200 IM (2:28.18), and a bronze finish for the 200 Freestyle Relay team of Headtke, Bauer, Earle and Parker (1:58.29). The Lady Blues also had a number of fourth-place finishes, starting with Baker in the 50 Freestyle (28.16), Headtke in the 500 Free (6:28.34) and closing out with Marks in the 100 Breaststroke (1:16.27).
For the Illinois College men's team, the first runner-up finish came in the 400 Medley Relay where the team of
Aaron Payne,
Oak Wattanasirakul,
Elijah Rhoad and
Mike Weisenfelder were second in 3:54.60. Payne also was second in the 200 Freestyle, finishing in 1:52.93. Wattanasirakul registered a second-place showing in the 100 Breaststroke as well, touching in 1:04.09.
Other top finishes for the Blueboys included a third-place time for Payne in the 100 Backstroke of 59.91.
Martin Ambre ended in fourth place in the 1000 Freestyle with a time of 11:09.93, good for fifth all-time in program history in the event. In a slightly shorter race, Weisenfelder was fourth in the 50 Freestyle in 23.27 seconds. The junior was also fourth in the 100 Freestlye in 53.52 seconds, while
Ben Allen notched a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM (2:14.89). Finally, in the 200 Freestyle Relay, the team of
Nick Amodeo, Rhoad,
Marshall Schmitz and Ambre were fourth in a time of 1:41.08. In an exhibition swim, Allen, Payne, Weisenfelder and Wattanasirakul touched in 1:37.23.
Illinois College continues the early portion of its schedule next weekend with a 1 p.m. dual meet at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Ill. on Oct. 28.
