Midwest Conference Swimming Teams Prepare for Midseason Invitationals

Midwest Conference Logo

By Taylor Brien, Swimming World College Intern

JACKSONVILLE – The modern-day Midwest Conference Swimming (MWC) was founded in 1994 and contains 11 members. Of those 11, nine have swimming and diving teams: Beloit College, Carroll University, Grinnell College, Illinois College, Knox College, Lake Forest College, Lawrence University, Monmouth College, and Ripon College.

After a weekend without competition the teams of the MWC are splitting between two mid-season invitationals: the Pioneer Classic, hosted by Grinnell College and the Carthage Classic, hosted by Carthage College.

Pioneer Classic

On Friday seven of the nine teams in the MWC will travel to Grinnell, Iowa to partake in the Pioneer Classic. The Pioneer Classic is a two-day, three-session met that will run the entire conference line-up. Because the Pioneer Classic has the majority of the MWC teams participating in it this meet will be a good prediction for what the conference meet might look like.

The Grinnell men and women were the winners of last years meet and are projected to claim the win again this year. Sophomore Ian Dixon-Anderson will look to continue his success in the distance freestyle events, while junior Hayley Levin will be sure to continue her success in the individual medleys. Levin currently leads the conference in both the 200 IM (2:15.01) and 400 IM (4:50.20).

Ripon’s freshman Emma Goral is sure to dazzle in the butterfly events. She leads the conference by a half second in the 100 butterfly (1:00.50) and by almost three seconds in the 200 butterfly (2:14.77). Fellow freshman Gabby Horstmeier is one to watch for in the 200 breaststroke. Horstmeier is currently sitting at eighth with a 2:40.41 only half a second behind Beloit’s Shaunte Moss.

Lawrence senior Taylor Winter will be one to watch as she works to stay in the top of the conference in the distance events. Winter sits at fourth in the 500 freestyle (5:24.88) and is first in the 1000 freestyle (11:04.87). Knox sophomore Madeline Bruce is sure to excel in the individual medleys and butterfly events. A versatile swimmer, Bruce sits in the top ten for the 500 freestyle (5:32.39), 200 butterfly (2:18.72), and 400 IM (5:06.82).

With last year’s sprint events being so close it is safe to expect just as much, if not more, from this year’s sprinters. It is sure to be a close race. Carroll’s Val Julian (25.28) and Morgan Stokes (25.44), Monmouth’s Erin Willhite (26.11), IC’s Lorraine Thompson (26.71), and Grinnell’s Beth Tsuha (25.69) are just a few of the women in the MWC who will be battling for the top 20 scoring positions in the 50 freestyle.

IC freshman Oak Wattanasirakul and Grinnell freshman Rhett Lundy will have one more face-off in the 100 breaststroke before conference. The two swam an incredibly close race at the Monmouth Invite a few weeks ago with Lundy pulling ahead in the back half of the race to grab the win. Lundy was able to out-touch Wattanasirakul by only .29 seconds. Both Lundy and Wattanasirakul are ranked in the top five for the conference.

Carthage Classic

Beloit College and Lake Forest College will be the only two teams in the MWC not traveling to Grinnell. Instead, they will be participating in the Carthage Classic in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This will be Beloit’s first year participating in the Carthage Classic. Will McAneny, who recently received an honorable mention on the MWC website for his performance in Beloit’s double dual with Ripon College and Simpson College, is sure to excel in the sprint freestyle events. McAneny claimed three individual event wins in the double dual with Ripon and Simpson, winning the 50 freestyle (22.49), 100 freestyle (49.97) and 100 butterfly (57.04). Junior Shaunte Moss will be one to watch for in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Moss is seated seventh in conference in the 200 breaststroke (2:39.79) and ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.27).

The Lake Forest men were second and the women were sixth at last years Carthage Classic. Sam Freedberg, this week’s current men’s MWC Swimmer and Diver of the Week, was a standout last year in the individual medleys. Freedberg recently swam his way to the top of the conference both the 200 IM (1:58.33) and 400 IM (4:20.90), while also swimming on the fastest 400- and 800-freestyle relays in the conference so far this season. A talented and versatile swimmer, Kristofer Korth was the winner of the 1650 freestyle at last year’s Carthage Classic. Korth also had top finishes in the 100 breaststroke (59.86), 400 IM (4:16.77), 200 breaststroke (2:08.25) and 200 butterfly (2:00.15). Regardless of what he swims Korth is sure to impress.

Sophomore Emily Bowens, a strong backstroker, will be a top finisher for the Forester women. Bowens was sixth in the 100 back at last year’s Carthage Classic and is currently second in the MWC with a 1:02.05. Bowens is also currently third in the 200 back (2:15.19). Sophomore Lauren Dalecky should also be a top finisher for the Foresters. Dalecky is currently third in both the 100 breaststroke (1:10.24) and 200 breaststroke (2:35.20).

Coming Up

This weekend will be the last meet of the fall half of the season for most teams. Friday, Dec. 12 Lawrence University will head to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a dual with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The meet will begin at 6 p.m.

On Saturday Illinois College and Knox College will face off in a double dual with Eureka College at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Racing starts at 1 p.m.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x