Pioneer Classic Results
Grinnell, IA - The Prairie Fire swimming teams performed well in a strong field at the Pioneer Classic on Friday and Saturday at Grinnell College.
The Knox women’s squad, which had six top three placements – including a first – scored 368 points to finish 8th out of 13 teams.
The Knox men tallied 177 points, including 84 in relays, to finish 10th overall.
The field featured a pair of very talented NAIA schools – Morningside College and William Jewell College – which placed in the top five in both the women’s and men’s standings. Host Grinnell College swept the competition.
The Pioneer men scored 1157 points, well ahead of runner-up Morningside (644.5), to win the event for the second straight year. The Grinnell women’s squad, with 859 points, also repeated as the team champion. Loras College finished second in the women's meet with 676.5 points.
Senior Tory Kassabaum (Webster Groves, MO, Webster Groves) placed first in the 200 freestyle in a time of 2:05.37. She also scored points by finishing third in the 500 freestyle, seventh in the 200 backstroke, eighth in the 100 backstroke, and 14th in the 50 freestyle out of 91 competitors.
Senior Bess Cooley (Shorewood, WI, Shorewood) placed second in the 200 breaststroke and third in both the 100 breaststroke and the 400 IM.
Kassabaum and Cooley were also part of the Prairie Fire 800 freestyle relay team that placed third. Joining them were first-year swimmer Susannah Lodge-Rigal (Bloomington, IL, Bloomington) and senior Rachel Clark (Newton, IA, Newton). The foursome placed sixth in the 400 freestyle relay as well.
Also scoring points in the individual events for the Prairie Fire women’s team were Clark, Lodge-Rigal, senior Laura Blue (Ann Arbor, MI, Pioneer), and senior Rebekah Bally (Vancouver, WA, Evergreen).
Clark placed 13th in both the 200 freestyle and the 100 freestyle, and 16th in the 50 freestyle. Lodge-Rigal was 12th in the 1650 freestyle, 15th in the 200 backstroke, 18th in the 100 backstroke, and 20th in both the 200 and 500 freestyles. Blue placed 16th and Bally 20th in the 1650 freestyle.
The Prairie Fire men’s team scored 30 points by placing 13th in the 800 freestyle relay behind the efforts of seniors Jeff Wickman (Naperville, IL, Naperville North), Alan Ning (Wilmette, IL, New Trier), Tyler O'Neill (Bloomington, MN, Perpich Center for Arts Education), and junior Patrick Inness (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg). The foursome also placed 15th out of 29 competitors in the 400 freestyle relay to earn 28 points while finishing 15th in the 200 medley relay to garner another 26 points.
“Patrick ended the meet for us on a great note, splitting a 49.6 in the 400 freestyle relay,” Coach Jonathan Powers said.
Individually, O’Neill was 12th in both the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke. Inness placed ninth in the 200 freestyle, 18th in the 50 freestyle, and 19th in the 100 freestyle.
The Prairie Fire women’s team finished ahead of Midwest Conference schools Carroll University (9th), Beloit College (10th), Illinois College (11th), and Ripon College (13th). The Knox men’s team placed ahead of Beloit (11th) and IC (12th) of the MWC, and Coe College (13th).
"I'm incredibly proud of the way the team swam,” Powers said. “There were a lot of season-best times, which was really impressive given how hard they've been training."
Powers said with classes at Knox not in session, the teams have been practicing twice a day, totaling up to 10,000 yards of swimming.
Following Grinnell and Morningside in the men’s top five team standings were Augustana College, Loras College, and William Jewell College. Morningside was third, William Jewell fourth, and Monmouth College fifth in the women’s meet.
The Prairie Fire swimming teams travel to Jacksonville, Illinois for a dual on Friday against Illinois College.
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