The Scarlet Hawks' Swimming and Diving team split two meets this weekend with the men besting Loras College and Carroll University while the women fell to both schools. IIT boarded a bus on Friday afternoon and travelled to Dubuque, IA for an evening meeting with the Duhawks of Loras. Following the meet, they stayed overnight in Iowa before heading to Waukesha, WI to take on the Pioneers of Carroll College. The men and women from Illinois Tech swam well, overcoming stiffness from long bus rides and less than ideal meet conditions to post some very quick times. Both teams continue to use these meets to rehearse race efforts as they look forward to the culmination of the season at the Liberal Arts Conference Championship Meet.
On Friday night, the Loras College Duhawks defeated the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks 130 to 77. The women started the meet off strong with the top finish in the 400 Medley Relay by Haley Slator, Brigitte Temple, Briana Tyler and Maddi Burrell (4:19.69). Temple won the 200 Individual Medley in a time of 2:18.73 and finished third in the 500 Freestyle (5:35.50). Tyler also placed in the 200 Individual Medley, taking home third place in 2:22.22 and touched the wall first in the 100 Butterfly in 1:03.83. Other strong swims included Ava Obenaus' 500 Freestyle (6:00.43), Slator's 100 Backstroke (1:06.40) and Grace Wischmeyer's 100 Breaststroke (1:15.65). The duo of Irena Grauzinis and Paige Mass took first and second respectively in the 1m diving competition with scores of 144.45 and 119.15.
The following day, the Scarlet Hawks put up a strong showing against the Carroll College Pioneers. Season best times included Obenaus' 1650 Freestyle (20:45.42) good for second place, Slator's runner-up finish in the 200 Freestyle (2:13.21) and 200 Backstroke (2:22.61), Burrell's 50 Freestyle (28.31), Tyler's top finish in the 200 Butterfly (2:23.12), and Wischmeyer's third place finish in the 100 Freestyle (1:01.99) and runner-up finish in the 200 Breaststroke (2:42.91). Temple also had a great meet, with first place finishes in the 400 Individual Medley and 200 Breaststroke (4:54.86 and 2:35.64). The women fell to Carroll by a final score of 132 to 64.
Illinois Tech's final meet of the year before heading to the Liberal Arts Conference Championship will be next Saturday, January 31 at Wheaton College. The meet begins at 11am and is against both Wheaton and North Central Colleges.
For more information on the Illinois Tech Swimming and Diving team, follow them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/IllinoisTechSwimming), Twitter (@IITSwim) and Instagram (@IITSwimming).