Illinois State’s Caitlin Hamilton Earns First Career Win as Redbirds Top Butler

Butler vs. Illinois State

• Oct. 12, 2019
• Normal, Illinois
• Illinois State 182-97
• Results

Courtesy: Illinois State Athletics

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State swimming and diving team opened its 2019-20 campaign with a 182-97 victory over the visiting Butler Bulldogs on Saturday at Horton Pool. The victory over Butler marks the first career win for first-year head coach Caitlin Hamilton.

“I’m proud of the team for stepping up and getting the win today,” Hamilton shared. “After a few weeks of tough training, it’s great to see things start to come together. We have a few days to fine-tune races before heading to Champaign.”

TOP PERFORMANCES

Five Redbirds won two individual events:

• Julia Oostman – 1000-yard freestyle (10:49.36), 500-yard freestyle (5:17.72)
• Katie Tillotson – 200-yard freestyle (1:57.55), 100-yard freestyle (54.37)
• Jensen Keck – 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.48), 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.17)
• Kierston Farley-Sepe – 200-yard butterfly (2:05.32), 200-yard IM (2:10.86)
• Caroline Lecoeur – 1-meter diving (281.18), 3-meter diving (298.58)Both marks qualify for NCAA Diving Zones

Makenna Licking and Julie Kolar helped ISU go 1-2-3 in the 100-yard freestyle event, finishing behind Tillotson with times of 54.93 and 55.75, respectively. Licking and Kolar each grabbed another pair of top-three finishes, as Licking’s were in the 200-yard freestyle (2:00.58) and 100-yard freestyle (54.93). Kolar finished second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.28) and third in the 100-yard freestyle (55.75) events.

Morgan Rosser went second and third in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:52.93) and 500-yard freestyle (5:25.17), respectively, while Alyssa Reinholz grabbed a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.35.

FRESHMEN FINISHES
Aside from Licking, the newcomer was joined by five fellow freshmen in the top-three of their respective events.

• Madyson Morse – 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.12), 200-yard breaststroke (2:28.63)
• Isabel Veliz – 100-yard backstroke (1:01.17), 200-yard backstroke (2:13. 02)
• Lauren Naeger – 200-yard butterfly (2:11.76), 100-yard butterfly (1:00.16)
• Maddie Hernandez – 50-yard freestyle (25.16)
• Emily Keebler – 200-yard backstroke (2:11.65)

Collectively, Illinois State came out victorious in 12 of 16 events, while Hannah Pugh led Butler by securing three first-place finishes.

UP NEXT

The Redbirds will continue their season in Champaign, Illinois, on Thursday, when Illinois State takes on Illinois and Southern Illinois in a double dual.

Courtesy: Butler Athletics

NORMAL, Ill. – The BU Swim Dawgs competed at Illinois State over the weekend. Hannah Pugh and Mattea Dumdey each recorded first-place finishes for the Bulldogs. Dumdey won the 50 Free for Butler with a time of 24.88.

Pugh won the 100 Backstroke with a time of 59.48 and was the top performer in the 200 Back with a time of 2:08.38. She joined Natalie Rohweder, Annah Van Gheem and Issy Petersen as the top 400 Yard Medley Relay Team. That unit finished second with a time of 4:02.36. Rohweder also competed in the 100 Breast for BU. She placed third with a time of 1:09.93.

Emma Harris finished second in the 500 Free and third in the 200 Free. She touched the wall at 5:20.71 in the 500 and 2:01.27 in the 200.

Jillian Dawson also ended up in second in the 200 Butterfly. She swam in 2:10.13, while teammate Van Gheem came in at 2:12.68 for fourth. Van Gheem improved on her 100 Butterfly finish by taking second. She followed Pugh with a time of 1:00.05.

Allie Carmichael had two strong performances for BU in the pool on Saturday. She finished second in the 200 IM and third in the 200 Breast. Her time of 2:15.34 landed her in second in the 200 IM and she clocked a time of 2:30.86 in the 200 Breast.

In the 1000 Free Olivia Allen, Olivia Klafta and Megan Hanson finished third through fifth. Allen’s best time clocked in at 10:59.43. Klafta stopped at 11:03.64 and Hanson was done at 11:09.70.

Butler’s team of Van Gheem, Hanson, Petersen and Himler took second place in the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:45.22. Madison Himler also finished fourth in the 100 Free (56.72).

BU will return to action next week with a home meet vs. Bellarmine on Friday, Oct. 18. The meet will take place at Warren Central High School.