Illinois State swim & dive travels to Athens, Ohio, for a two-day meet against Ohio University on Oct. 15-16 at the Ohio University Aquatics Center. Thursday's events are set to begin at 5 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+. Friday's events scheduled for 10 a.m. ET and will not be streamed.
"The format is unique," said ISU head coach Ryan Evans. "It's a full slate of events but broken up over two days. Competing Thursday evening and turning around and racing or diving the next morning is great practice for the upcoming Hawkeye Invite and the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in February. It's also exciting that the meet will be on ESPN+. Redbird fans can catch all the action regardless of where they are."
LAST TIME OUT
The Illinois State swimming and diving team recorded a pair of runner-up relay finishes and several strong individual performances last Friday night, as the Redbirds fell 240-58 to Indiana State at the Vigo County Aquatic Center.
Fris led the way for Illinois State, placing second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.76 and third in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 2:07.06. Fris also helped the Redbirds finish second in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:34.56.
Molly Allison also recorded a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:04.71 to move her into eighth in program history.
SCOUTING OHIO
Ohio is coming off a successful Green and White Scrimmage last weekend in Athens. Prior to the Green and White, Ohio opened their season with a split of their tri-meet against Miami and North Florida in Coal Gables, Fla. The Bobcats defeated North Florida, 221.00-72.00 and fell to Miami,193.00-106.00.
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Ohio is led by seniors Zita Szoke and Astrid Pichardo, who were named the Mid-American Conference Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively, on Oct. 6.
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The Bobcats have recorded back-to-back second-place finishes at the Mid-American Conference Championships.
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Ohio leads the series over Illinois State 2-0, winning the first matchup 216-82 in 2023 and the most recent matchup 273-139 in 2024.
"We face another really strong opponent. Just like last week, Ohio University is one of the premier programs in the Midwest. They are very good in every event," said Evans. "It is important for us to compete against really good teams. It challenges us and motivates the student-athletes to bring their best performance."
ORDER OF EVENTS
Thursday
1M Diving
200 Free Relay
1000 Free, 200 IM
15-minute break
200 Breast
200 Back
200 Fly
100 Fly
15-minute break
400 Medley Relay
Friday
3M Diving
200 Medley Relay
500 Free
50 Free
100 Back
15-minute break
100 Breast
100 Fly
400 IM
15-minute break
400 Free Relay
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