More Records Fall as IC Teams Take Fourth at Panther Invite

By: Both the Blueboys and Lady Blues swam well against a large field at Principia College.

ELSAH, Ill. – The Illinois College swimming teams each ended in fourth place out of nine teams at Principia College's Panther Invite on Saturday. Each team notched a number of top-five swims in school history, but the Lady Blues particularly excelled, setting new school records in the 200 Medley Relay and the 100 Backstroke.

The first school record of the day came in the first event as Hannah Baker, Hannah Marks, Marcella Jacquemain and Lindsay Bruce bolted out of the gates with a time of 1:58.03 in the 200 Medley Relay. That sliced .08 off the previous record, set in 2017. The Lady Blues took second in the race behind Division II Maryville University. On the men's side, Ben Allen, Oak Wattanasirakul, Elijah Rhoad and Mike Weisenfelder totaled a time of 1:45.37, taking fifth.

The first individual event was the 500 Freestyle and the Lady Blues had a pair of top-five finishes. Maddie Headtke ended in fourth place in 6:07.21. Not far behind in fifth was Bruce in 6:13.17. Nick Amodeo was the top finisher for the Blueboys in the event, taking eighth in 5:58.95.

Martin Ambre nabbed Illinois College's first individual win of the day in the 200 Freestyle, clocking in at 1:52.81 and winning by just under two seconds. Audrey Earle had the top placement on the women's side, taking ninth place in 2:19.26.

After that, attention turned to Baker in the 100 Backstroke, and the freshman impressed with a new school record of 1:04.90 in the event, taking third place overall. Allen was fifth for the men in 59.22 seconds.

Another individual win came in the 100 Breaststroke for Marks. The sophomore had the third-fastest time in school history with a winning time of 1:09.82, coming in nearly five seconds ahead of second place. Wattanasirakul was the runner-up in the men's event, touching in 1:03.88.

In the 200 Butterfly, Jacquemain was fourth in a tightly-bunched group of finishers, clocking in at 2:33.22. Rhoad was sixth for the Blueboys in 2:13.49. The 50 Freestyle provided another fourth-place finish, this time for the Blueboys in the form of Weisenfelder. The sprint event was a tight finish as always, with the junior swimming a time of 22.94 seconds. Earle was the top finisher for the Lady Blues in 11th place in 29.00 seconds flat.

After a break for diving, swimming resumed with the 100 Freestyle. Bruce took ninth for the Lady Blues in 1:00.93, while the Blueboys had Ambre finish fifth in 52.82 seconds and Weisenfelder take sixth in 52.89 seconds.

Baker was back in the water for the 200 Backstroke following that event and the freshman once again put herself into the record book with a top-finish five in school history. This time around, her time of 2:26.59 was the fourth-fastest time ever for the Lady Blues and good enough for seventh in the race.

Marks won her second individual event of the afternoon in the 200 Breaststroke, swimming the third-fastest time in school history with a 2:34.04. Wattanasirakul was again the runner-up on the men's side in the Breaststroke event, finishing in 2:19.88. Allen was third as well for the Blueboys in 2:22.84.

Not limiting the team's success to the shorter events, Headtke ended as the runner-up in the 1650 Freestyle in 21:05.92. Ambre then registered the fourth-fastest mile in school history by winning the 1650 Freestlye in 18:15.77. Amodeo was fourth in 21:38.24.

The final individual event was the 400 IM and Jacquemain added one last entry to the record book by racing to a 5:15.41 finish for the fifth-fastest time ever by a Lady Blues swimmer. Allen was third in the race for the Blueboys in 4:36.58.

In the 400 Freestyle Relay, the Lady Blues took fifth place and the Blueboys ended third overall.

After facing Principia in this invite format, the Blueboys and Lady Blues will welcome the Panthers to Coultas Natatorium on Feb. 3 for a dual meet at 1 p.m. The final home meet of the season will also be IC's last competition before the MWC Championships take place beginning on Feb. 16.