Results
Monmouth, IL – The Prairie Fire earned a win on Saturday at the Monmouth College Triangular.
The Knox women’s swimming team defeated Illinois College 121-91 and lost to host Monmouth 176-59 to earn a split at the meet.
The young Prairie Fire men’s squad fell to IC 120-45 and Monmouth 163-36.
The scores, however, don’t reflect the improvement the Knox teams are making. Coach Jonathan Powers said there were 17 season-best times at the meet.
Senior Zoey Kudla (Ypsilanti, MI, Greenhills School) placed first in the 400 yard IM, shaving 14 seconds off of her previous top time. Prairie Fire first-year Chris Walsh (Boulder, CO, Shining Mountain Waldorf School) also won an event, finishing first in the 100 yard backstroke.
"Zoey has been swimming really well in practice so it was great to see her hard work pay off," Powers said.
Kudla added top five placements and points in the 100 and 200 yard backstrokes. Walsh did the same in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle races.
Sophomore Susannah Lodge-Rigal (Bloomington, IN, Bloomington) also had a strong meet. She placed second in both the 1650 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle.
Junior Marie Anderson (Pleasant Hill, CA, Athenian School) had top five finishes in the 100 yard backstroke, the 50 yard freestyle, and the 100 yard freestyle.
Sophomore Madeline Troy (Naperville, IL, Naperville North) and first-year Maddie Boehm (Kenosha, WI, Harborside Academy) had a pair of top five placements – Troy in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle races and Bohm in the 50 freestyle and the 100 yard butterfly.
The Knox women’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Lodge-Rigal, Anderson, Bohm, and sophomore Colleen Shelly (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) earned a second place finish.
First-year men’s swimmer Sam Chen (Englewood, CO, Cherry Creek) scored in a pair of events. He turned in top five performances in the 100 yard breaststroke and the 100 yard freestyle.
"We had some good swims and overall I'm pleased with how the team battled,” Powers said. “We have one month left before the conference championships and I'm optimistic we can build off our performance on Saturday and finish the season well."
The Prairie Fire swimming teams travel to Illinois College for a triangular with IC and Eureka College on January 26. Full schedule here
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