Results
Galesburg, IL - The Prairie Fire men’s and women’s teams got the new season off to a good start with a dual meet victory against Eureka College Saturday at Lay Natatorium.
Knox won the women’s meet 184-37 and the men outscored the Red Devils 128-53. Seven swimmers for the Prairie Fire each won at least two individual events.
Seniors Bess Cooley (Shorewood, WI, Shorewood), Tory Kassabaum (St. Louis, MO, Webster Grove), Rachel Clark (Newton, IA, Newton), and Anne Heberle (Lodi, CA, Tokay) scored 18 points apiece for Knox by placing first in two events. The four also teamed up to win the 200 yard medley relay race.
Individually, Cooley won the 200 yard IM and the 100 yard breaststroke, which was one second off the pool record, Kassabaum placed first in the 100 yard breaststroke and the 100 yard backstroke, Clark won the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle, and Heberle took first in the 50 yard butterfly and the 50 yard breaststroke.
Other individual event winners for the Fire were first-year swimmer Susannah Lodge-Rigal (Bloomington, IL, Bloomington) (200 yard freestyle), junior Anna Claypool (Portland, Oregon, Lincoln) (50 yard backstroke), and senior Laura Blue (Ann Arbor, MI, Pioneer) (500 yard freestyle).
Blue, junior Amanda Lee (Palatine, Illinois, Fremd), first-year swimmer Madeline Troy, and Lodge-Rigal led Knox to a first place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay race.
Junior Patrick Inness (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) won three individual events for the Prairie Fire men’s team. He placed first in the 200 yard freestyle, the 500 yard freestyle, and the 50 yard butterfly.
Seniors Tyler O'Neill (Bloomington, MN, Perpich Center for Arts Education)and Alan Ning (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) won two events apiece. O’Neill was victorious in the 200 yard IM and the 100 yard backstroke while Ning took first in the 100 yard butterfly and the 100 yard freestyle.
The men’s team also won the 200 yard medley and 200 yard freestyle relays.
Junior Chris Holland, who placed first in the 50 yard backstroke, O’Neill, senior Junyoung Cho (Wilmette, IL, New Tier), and first-year swimmer Matthew Klich (Chicago, IL) swam to victory in the 200 medley relay. Cho, Ning, Inness, and O’Neill were part of Knox’s winning 200 freestyle relay.
"I'm really pleased with how we swam,” said Coach Jonathan Powers. “There were a lot of really good swims and I'm excited for the rest of the season.
"It was good to see the hard work that they've been putting in pay off,” he said.
The Prairie Fire swimming teams take part in the Monmouth Invitational on November 12 at Monmouth College. The events begin at 11:00 a.m.
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