O'FALLON, Ill. – The Illinois State swimming and diving team bounced back after a challenging battle in the pool at yesterday's meet, topping both McKendree (188-108) and Maryville (245-37) on Saturday morning at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex. In route to the wins over both McKendree and Maryville, the Redbirds recorded 11 individual event wins and saw several student-athletes achieve season-best times and scores.
"After a Friday full of tough racing, it was encouraging to see the entire team step up to race well again today," said head coach Caitlin Hamilton. "We are seeing a lot of growth and learning every time the team gets in the water. So far we've had a great fall of training and are excited to see what the 'Birds are capable of doing in a few weeks at Purdue."
In the pool, the 'Birds were led by a trio of swimmers who all finished with two wins on the day. Diana Walker, Sydney Hoff and Emily Keebler each notched two wins apiece.
In her first win of the day, Walker clocked in at 10:40.45 in the 1,000-yard freestyle, giving ISU its first individual event win in the pool. Later on in the day, Walker guided the 'Birds to a sweep of the 500-yard freestyle with Raegen Follis and Lauren Hervey also finishing in the top-three in the event.
The breaststroke was dominated by freshman Sydney Hoff who nabbed wins in both the 100-yard and 200-yard. Hoff's times of 1:06.55 in the 100 and 2:25.63 in the 200 were both season bests for the newcomer.
Upperclassmen Emily Keebler provided some experience for the Redbirds in the pool today, leading ISU to a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-yard backstroke and a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard IM. She clocks in at 2:10.05 in the 200-yard IM and 2:09.17 in the backstroke.
Other individual winners in the pool include Lauren Naeger in the 200-yard butterfly, Cassidy Carey in the 100-yard backstroke and Emma Feltzer in the 200-yard freestyle.
Freshman Eva Reyes continues to impress on the boards, picking up wins in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Reyes earned a collegiate-best score of 299.25 in the 3-meter event, while scoring a solid 277.57 in the 1-meter. Teammate, Kamryn Blake also had a strong day for the Redbird divers, placing second behind Reyes in both dives and earning a career-best score of 258.00 in the 3-meter.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will take a couple weeks off from competition to train before their next meet in West Lafayette, Indiana where they will compete at the Purdue Invitational.
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