NORMAL, Ill. – The 400-yard medley relay team of Cassidy Carey, Madyson Morse, Lauren Naeger and Emma Feltzer broke a 20-year-old Horton Pool record to open day one of Illinois State swimming and diving's final home meet of the season, a dual against UNI.
The Redbird quartet shattered the previous record of 3:54.78 held by swimmers from the University of Illinois since 2002 by nearly four seconds with a time of 3:50.91.
"Competing against a Missouri Valley opponent in season is always an opportunity to rise up as a team," head coach Caitlin Hamilton said. "We started the meet out on a high note by setting a new pool record and didn't look back from there."
In addition to their record-breaking relay win, the Redbirds picked up victories in four other events in the pool, including the 200-yard free relay. The final event of the day ended in a photo-finish with Illinois State just edging UNI in the relay. Olivia Gonder, Feltzer, Morse and Diana Walker combined for a time of 1:38.18 to the Panthers' time of 1:38.27 in the win.
Individually, Walker, Naeger and Morse all picked up wins for the 'Birds. Walker narrowly beat UNI's Abbie Bangs (1:55.62) in the 200-yard freestyle, clocking in with a time of 1:55.61.
In the 200-yard butterfly, Naeger led the way by nearly one second with her time of 2:05.79. Rounding out the individual wins for the 'Birds was Morse in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.30. Freshman Sydney Hoff completed a 1-2 finish for ISU in the 100-yard breaststroke, coming in second with a time of 1:08.37.
On the boards, freshman Eva Reyes picked up win number five this season, including her third win at the Horton Pool, taking first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 290.93. Teammate Kamryn Blake took third to place two Redbirds in the top three, posting a collective score of 254.40.
"As a whole I'm proud of how we competed, and our job as a team is not done," Hamilton said. "It's rare that we get back-to-back opportunities to compete. It's going to be another battle tomorrow and the 'Birds are ready."
The 'Birds finished day one with a 104-82 advantage over UNI through the first 10 events.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will return to Horton Pool for day two against UNI tomorrow, Saturday, January 15. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. with the 1-meter dive set to begin at 9:45 a.m. The Redbirds will honor their four seniors between the diving and swimming events at approximately 10:15 a.m. with swimming to follow at around 10:50 a.m. Admission is free to the public. Masks are required.
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