Wheaton, Ill. -- After spending last week out of the pool for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Thunder swim teams returned to competition this weekend to host their annual Wheaton Invitational. Wheaton welcomed seven visiting programs to Lederhouse Natatorium on Friday for the first day of swimming action after the Thunder diving teams opened the Invite on Thursday evening. Following tonight's finals, the Wheaton women's squad is currently in second place out of the eight teams, just three points behind Grove City College, who leads the pack with 370 points. The Thunder women have a 20-point advantage over third-placed UW-Stevens Point, who collected a total of 347 on Friday. Wheaton's strong first-day showing was highlighted by Tess Boyer and Katie Yonan, who each won individual races before combining with two other teammates in a relay victory to cap the night's proceedings.

The aforementioned duo began this evening's finals with a runner-up finish in the women's 200 yard freestyle relay alongside Scottie McKeaney and Rebecca Darter, as the Thunder quartet posted a time of 1:37.98 to finish the event just .25 second behind the winning Stevens Point group.

Boyer then topped the field in her A final of the 200 yard IM to win the first solo race of the night by a mammoth 9.42-second margin. The sophomore earned a mark of 2:06.28 to establish a new CCIW-best time, and her count is currently the 19th-fastest time in Division III this year. The Kansas native collected her second individual victory of the program in the 200 yard butterfly courtesy of a 2:04.53 time mark - also a new conference standard and currently 12th in the nation in 2024-25.

Yonan (pictured right) picked up her solo win on Friday in the women's 100 yard freestyle field, touching the wall at 52.66, more than a second ahead of the Millikin swimmer immediately behind her. 

Olivia Wiebe earned the runner-up spot in her 200 yard backstroke A final with a time of 2:08.83, and Kara Grace Hess swam to a third-place finish in the 200 fly via a 2:13.25 mark. Erin Davis secured a pair of fifth-place showings in the women's 200 IM and the 100 yard breaststroke, with times of 2:17.59 and 1:09.74, respectively.

The Wheaton women's team solidified their spot in second place in the team standings at the very end of the evening thanks to a victory in the 400 yard medley relay. Wiebe, Davis, Boyer, and Yonan joined forces to place first in the event thanks to a combined mark of 4:01.13, completing the race two seconds ahead of the runner-up quartet from Grove City.

After a solid start to the weekend, the Thunder women will look to overturn their narrow deficit on Saturday and claim first place in this year's invitational. Tomorrow's action is set to begin with a 10 AM round of prelims followed by event finals at 5 PM. Saturday's slate marks the last segment of the Invite as well as Wheaton's final day of competition in 2024.