ST. LOUIS – The Illinois State swimming and diving team swept the Missouri Valley Conference swimming and diving weekly awards this week after stellar performances by sophomore Diana Walker, who was named Swimmer of the Week, and freshman Eva Reyes, who was named Diver of the Week.
This marks the first time since January 2019 and the first time during Caitlin Hamilton's tenure as head coach that the Redbirds have swept the conference awards.
Walker picked up two individual wins and anchored the 200-yard freestyle relay to a narrow victory, claiming wins in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle individually last weekend. In an extremely close 200-yard freestyle race, Walker held on to out touch the UNI swimmer in a .01 advantage, finishing with a time of 1:55.61. The sophomore closed out day one of the Redbirds' dual with UNI anchoring the 200-yard freestyle relay to a win with a time of 1:38.18 compared to the Panthers' time of 1:38.27.
On day two, Walker notched another individual victory, taking first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:10.83, nearly four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Walker's efforts this weekend played a key role in Illinois State's team victory over UNI.
This is the first MVC Swimmer of the Week honor for Walker.
Reyes continued her impressive season for the 'Birds by picking up two more wins at Horton Pool last weekend. Undefeated at her home pool in her debut season for Illinois State, Reyes won the 3-meter dive with a total score of 290.93 and the 1-meter dive with a collective score of 263.85 to help the Redbirds get the team victory over UNI.
With her two wins this weekend, Reyes has posted six first-place performances on the boards this season.
Reyes has earned the title of MVC Diver of the Week four times this season.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will take a week off from competition before their next meet on Friday, January 28 at Indiana State. Competition will begin at 1 p.m. EST (12 p.m. CT) in Terre Haute, Indiana.
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