GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference released the results of its preseason polls for swimming & diving on Monday. The Illinois College women's team ended in fifth place in the poll, totaling 32 points. The IC men's team was sixth with 29 points. Grinnell College was the favorite in both polls with seven first-place votes and 56 points.
In the women's poll, Lake Forest College followed Grinnell in second place with 48 points while Lawrence University was third with 46 points and the one remaining first-place vote in the poll. St. Norbert College was in fourth place with 34 points and the Lady Blues followed closely behind in fifth with 32 points.
The rest of the poll featured Monmouth College in sixth place (25 points), Ripon College in seventh (21 points), Beloit College in eighth (18 points) and Knox College in ninth place (eight points).
In the men's preseason poll, Lake Forest once again was the runner-up to Grinnell, finishing with 50 points and the one remaining first-place vote. St. Norbert followed in third with 39 points and Monmouth was fourth with 37 points. Lawrence took fifth in the poll with 31 points and the Blueboys were nipping at its heels with 29 points.
Rounding out the preseason poll, Ripon was in seventh place with 23 points, Beloit was eighth with 16 points and Knox was ninth with seven points.
The Lady Blues will go into the 2019-20 season with a strong returning core led by senior
Hannah Marks. Marks will be aiming for her third straight MWC titles in the 100 and 200 Breaststrokes. She was also the 2019 runner-up in the conference in the 200 IM.
Hannah Baker,
Kate Edelstein and
Donna Jenkins all had top-eight finishes in the MWC as well last season.
For the Blueboys, sophomore
Davide Sanna will look to build on a spectacular freshman season in which he won MWC Swimmer of the Year. Sanna was the MWC champion last season in the 100 Backstroke, 200 Backstroke and 200 IM, very nearly qualifying for the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. Senior
Marty Ambre will provide leadership and experience on an otherwise young squad.
The 2019-20 season begins for Illinois College with a home meet on Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. against Franklin College. IC will then immediately turn around for its first road meet of the season on Oct. 26, traveling to Lincoln College for a 1 p.m. start.
