Rock Island, Ill. -- One week after hosting the Augustana Vikings in Lederhouse Natatorium as a part of the programs' Senior Day Thunder Invitational, the Wheaton swimming & diving teams did the same in return, traveling to western Illinois this afternoon for Augustana's Senior Day fixture. The hosting Vikings earned wins in both the men's and women's meets in today's regular season finale, as each squad geared up for next month's conference championships. But Saturday's action was not without achievement for the Thunder, with the event schedule featuring plenty of competition victories and four new pool records set by three Wheaton swimmers.
The women's meet was particularly competitive, with the final scores coming down to the wire as Augustana edged Wheaton by a 123-110 count. On the men's side, the Vikings clipped the Thunder by a 135-105 margin.
Three men's divers participated in today's meet for Wheaton, including CCIW Men's Diving Student-Athlete of the Week
Mateo Anderson, who had another strong performance on both boards. The senior topped the 1-meter field after six jumps with a team-high score of 197.05 that ranks second in the league this season. He then tallied a mark of 163.50 from three meters to register another squad-best score which is currently fourth-highest in the conference this year.
Sam Moss earned a personal-best mark of 126.65 on the 3-meter board and posted a 97.80 count in the 1-meter field.
Jonny Huber registered an 82.40 total in the 1-meter competition.
Ben Coley claimed a runner-up finish in the first individual men's swimming event today, coming in second in the 200-yard freestyle via a time of 1:46.56, touching the wall just .01 second after the Vikings race winner.
Zachary Kohoutek placed third in the competition with a season-best 1:48.26 showing.
Jac Cummings then claimed the first win of the day for the Wheaton men in the 50 free with a 21.83 mark to contribute nine points to the Thunder's tally.
Fellow sophomore
Jed Ritchie came in first in the 200-yard IM with a team-leading 2:00.44 time that was a definitive 3.57 seconds faster than the Augustana runner-up. Coley earned a solo victory of his own in the 100-yard butterfly thanks to a 52.57 line, touching the wall an impressive 1.18 seconds before the nearest Vikings competitor. Cummings tallied a second-place standing in the 100-yard backstroke via a 54.18 performance, finishing the event only .08 second after Augie's champion. Ritchie then doubled up for the day with a victory in the 500 free courtesy of a time of 4:54.41, while teammate
Jack Haidl earned four points for Wheaton with a second-place finish in the same race.
The final individual competition of the program on Saturday saw the headline performance of the men's meet, as
Isaac Eilmes set a new pool record at Augustana with his showing in the 1000-yard freestyle. The junior topped the five-man field with a time of 9:51.98 to win the competition by .27 second over the Vikings senior in second place. Eilmes' mark shattered the previous natatorium standard from 2021 by 6.27 seconds and ensured that the Thunder men's team got to end today's meet on a celebratory note.
Three women's diving student-athletes took part in Saturday's event for Wheaton. CCIW champion Lara Stamp returned to the lineup and earned the day's highest score on the 1-meter board, 190.60, a total that is good for first on the team and second-best in the conference this season after six dives. Kate Tukiendorf tallied a season-best mark of 149.70 on the same board. Stamp then went two-for-two this afternoon with a competition-leading score of 192.05 on the 3-meter board, the event's top mark in the CCIW this year. Reigning CCIW Women's Diving Student-Athlete of the Week Isabelle Fitzpatrick earned a score of 127.60 after six dives off the 3-meter board, another personal season-high tally.
The women's swimming events began in perfect fashion for the Thunder, as a quartet of Kate Zurowski, Lydia Hansen, Tess Boyer, and Aubrey Swanson teamed up to win the 200-yard medley relay. The Wheaton group posted a time of 1:52.14 to beat out Augie's top team by 2.17 seconds.
The rookie Allison Henschel topped the podium in the first solo swim, winning the women's 200-yard freestyle by three seconds on a mark of 2:00.66 to add nine points to Wheaton's team score. Swanson and Savannah Jeffery then went second and third in the 50 free with respective times of 25.33 and 26.48. Jeffery was later the runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke thanks to a 1:02.91 time, missing out on the top position by just .09 second. Hansen added an individual event win to her aforementioned relay success with a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM, posting a 2:19.45 time mark to take maximum points by a 1.52-second margin.
Boyer then set the first of her two pool records on the day with a victorious showing in the 100-yard butterfly. The All-American swam a 57.75 line to win the event by a comfortable 4.85 seconds with a mark that would rank second in the league this year behind her own personal best of 57.53 achieved at the Calvin dual meet in November. Boyer's time on Saturday broke the existing Anne Greve Lund Natatorium record in the women's 100 fly from 2021 by 1.95 seconds.
The junior later made it two pool records on the day with a season-high time in the 100-yard breaststroke, edging out her previous best mark by .01 second with a 1:08.07 showing to win the race by a whopping 5.82 seconds. Boyer's updated performance leads the CCIW this year and broke the previous facility standard that was set just two years ago by .84 second.
She was not the only Wheaton swimmer to set a new best time in Augustana's pool, however, as CCIW Women's Swimmer of the Week Olivia Wiebe did the same in the 1000-yard freestyle. The senior completed the lengthy event in 10:42.75 to establish a new conference-leading mark and surpass the old natatorium record from 2021 by nearly nine seconds.
Having concluded their regular season schedules, the Thunder swim teams will now take a break from competition for the next two and a half weeks until the CCIW Championships begin in mid-February. But the Wheaton diving squads won't have to wait that long, as the conference diving championships take place on Friday, February 13 and Saturday, February 14. The Thunder divers will head to Carthage College before their swimming teammates travel to Pleasant Prairie the following Wednesday.
