Wheaton, Ill. -- One week on from the Illinois-Michigan tri meet in which Lake Forest College was originally slated to participate, the Foresters arrived on Wheaton's campus for a reshuffled dual meet in Lederhouse Natatorium. Today's event marked just the second-ever meeting between the Wheaton and Lake Forest programs. Just as they did back in January 2020, the Thunder squads both earned wins today by outscoring their fellow suburban opponents. The Wheaton men's team won by a score of 141-88 to capture their first head-to-head victory of the season, while the Thunder women were victorious by a final tally of 127-98.

Wheaton began today's dual by sweeping the 200 yard medley relays. Jac Cummings, Isaac Chambers, Kaden Gannon, and Josh Elsen combined to place first in the event with a total time of 1:37.43, while the B squad of Ben Fox, David Stevenson, Philip Holst, and Luke Anderson managed to tie Lake Forest's A team in second place with a mark of 1:41.11. 

Isaac Eilmes took first place in the four-man 1000 yard freestyle to begin the solo events, completing the race under the ten-minute mark at a 9:58.42 pace. Ben Coley (pictured right) then earned runner-up status in the 11-swimmer 200 free, touching the wall just .20 second after the victorious Lake Forest competitor. Coley would later capture the top spot in the men's 100 free via a 47.99 time.  

Cummings earned the first of his two solo wins on Saturday in the men's 50 yard freestyle thanks to a 21.70 mark and followed up this performance by topping the podium in the 100 yard butterfly, registering a 53.22 time mark to edge out teammate Isaac Bubar in second place.

After playing a starring role in last weekend's tri meet, Jed Ritchie continued his strong form this afternoon by winning both the 200 yard IM and 500 yard free. He placed first in the former event in convincing fashion as the only swimmer to complete the race in under two minutes at 1:57.97, concluding his swim nearly five seconds ahead of the LFC runner-up. The rookie then won the 500 free by a 6.6-second margin via a 4:44.22 line.

 Elsen (pictured left) then wrapped up the solo events by enjoying an individual win in the men's 100 yard breaststroke, posting a time of 1:01:44 to place one spot ahead of his fellow 200 medley relay participant Stevenson in second.

 

---

The quartet of Savannah Jeffery, Louise Adams, Kara Grace Hess, and Rebecca Darter placed first in the women's 200 yard medley relay this afternoon with a combined time of 1:54.61.

The reigning CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week Tess Boyer then claimed the first solo win for Wheaton in the women's 200 yard freestyle as the only competitor to finish the race in under two minutes at 1:56.02. The sophomore also topped the podium in her 100 yard butterfly race via a 57.30 time mark. 

Katie Yonan gave the Thunder another victory in the freestyle category when she topped the nine-woman 50 yard field courtesy of a 24.84 time. The senior also earned top honors in the 100 free thanks to a 53.34 mark.

Olivia Wiebe (pictured right) finished first in the four-swimmer 500 yard freestyle event, posting a time of 5:33.02 to outpace the Lake Forest runner-up by nearly four seconds. 

Emma Murphree earned a second-place finish in the women's 100 yard breaststroke with a mark of 1:15.22, just .17 second ahead of her teammate Adams in third.

Yonan, Boyer, Darter, and Jeffery then combined for the final event of the swimming program, the 200 yard freestyle relay, and came in second place by a razor-thin margin, posting a total time of 1:40.37, only .05 behind the winning Lake Forest quartet. But even with this group narrowly missing out, the Thunder would still secure the overall team victory on the day.

Lake Forest did not have any divers participate in Saturday's dual meet, but two Wheaton women still got the chance to compete, and Lara Stamp built on her strong showing from last weekend today by tallying a score of 413.90 after 11 dives on the 1-meter board. This figure was enough to earn the freshman qualification to the upcoming NCAA Regionals, which will be held February 28-March 1 at Grinnell College in Iowa.

After a successful Saturday in the pool, the Thunder teams will begin preparing for their next competition, the North Central College Invitational. Wheaton heads to Naperville next Saturday morning for the local event before returning to Lederhouse for the final time in 2024-25 on February 1st to host the Augustana Vikings in the last dual meet of the season.