IC Swim Teams Prep for MWC Championships with Dominant Wins over Principia

By: The Blueboys won by 55 points and the Lady Blues won by a whopping 103 points in dual meet against the Panthers on Saturday.

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College swimming teams celebrated Senior Day and began final preparations for the Midwest Conference Championships with two decisive wins on Saturday afternoon over Principia College. The Lady Blues defeated the Panthers by a whopping margin of 103 points, 123-20, while the Blueboys downed the Panthers, 103-48.

All told, Illinois College won 19 of the day's 21 events. The biggest individual highlight of the day came when Martin Ambre set a new school record in the 1000 Freestyle with a time of 10:44.94. Nick Amodeo also swam the event for the Blueboys and ended with a time of 12:33.73. Maddie Headtke logged the fourth-best 1000 Freestyle time ever for the Lady Blues with a 12:39.09.

The day began with the 200 Medley Relay, where both teams notched victories over Principia. The Lady Blues got the win in 2:06.62 with Lindsay Bruce, Marcella Jacquemain, Hannah Baker and Hannah Marks making up the team. For the Blueboys, Elijah Rhoad, Mike Weisenfelder, Oak Wattanasirakul and Ben Allen swam to a winning time of 1:48.21.

Two more freestyle events followed the 1000 Freestyle. First up, Bruce won the 200 Free in 2:12.91, with Audrey Earle in second (2:23.78) and Tia Parker in third (2:24.00). Weisenfelder triumphed in the men's event in 1:59.69. Nick Smith took third in 2:18.19. In the 50 Freestyle, Baker cruised to victory in 28.05 seconds, while Abby Isham was second in 36.92 seconds. Olivia Cruthis took fourth in 38.49 seconds. For the men, Wattanasirakul earned a narrow win over a pair of swimmers from Principia, taking the race with a time of 23.65 seconds.

Following a break, action resumed with the 200 IM where Marks and Jacquemain finished 1-2 for the Lady Blues. Marks won the race in 2:23.09, with Jacquemain close behind in 2:28.25. Allen won the race for the Blueboys in 2:10.02, while Rhoad finished second in 2:18.21.

Parker was the winner of the women's 100 Butterfly in 1:19.88, but Principia earned one of its two victories in the men's race as Garrett Barner edged out Wattanasirakul. Barner swam a 1:00.36, while Wattanasirakul settled for second in 1:01.31. In the 100 Freestyle, Marks was the only female swimmer to break the minute mark, winning in 58.61 seconds. Headtke was third in 1:04.80 and Earle was fourth in 1:05.05. The Panthers got their other win in the men's 100 Free, with IC's best finisher coming in the form of Nick Amodeo with a time of 59.13 seconds.

The rest of the day was all Illinois College. Baker set the 100 Backstroke record last week for the Lady Blues, and very nearly matched it again with a winning time of 1:05.05. Rhoad won the men's event in 1:02.57. In the 500 Freestyle, Bruce claimed victory in 5:55.66, as did Ambre in 5:15.45. In the last individual event of the day, Earle won the 100 Breaststroke in 1:31.35, while Allen did the same for the Blueboys in 1:05.59.

The last event of the meet offered the teams something different. Two men and two women made up each team in the Mixed 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. The Illinois College 'A' team of Marks, Bruce, Ambre and Amodeo won the race in 1:44.57. In third, IC's 'B' team of Weisenfelder, Earle, Wattanasirakul and Headtke ended in 1:48.21.

Illinois College will conclude the 2017-18 season with the Midwest Conference Championships, held in Grinnell, Iowa from Feb. 16-18. Action gets underway with prelim races at 9 a.m. on the 16th.