Saint Louis head swimming and diving coach Jim Halliburton has announced the addition of 12 Billikens for next season. Robin Bender (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), Mary First (Madison, Wis./Madison West), Maddie Kehoe (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin Derham Hall), Savannah Nichols (Omaha, Neb./Marian), Christine Van Kirk (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline) and Olivia Wanasek (Burlington, Wis./Bulington) will join the women’s team. Alex Borchers (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield), Tyler Guist (Oswego, Ill./Oswego), Matt Loniewski (Brighton, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central), Benjamin Martinez (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech), Keegan Paulson (Groveland, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) and Scott Street (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) will join the men’s team.
Bender comes from Lake Forest High School in Lake Forest, Ill., alma mater of current Billiken Hilary Rancap. Bender is a distance freestyle and butterfly specialist. In club season, she competes with Lake Forest Swim Club, where she was an Illinois Senior Championships qualifier in each of the past three seasons.
Coach Halliburton on Bender:
“Robin will add depth to our butterfly and distance freestyle groups. We do not have many returners in those events and Robin’s experience will be valuable.”
First is from Madison West High School in Madison, Wis. She is a sprint freestyler who finished 10th in the state in the 50-yard freestyle. First is a four-time All-State honoree and a two-time All-American. Her career best of 24.10 in the 50-yard freestyle would rank sixth on the Billiken’s all-time list. First’s time of 52.95 in the 100-yard freestyle would be 11th all-time at SLU.
Coach Halliburton on First:
“Mary has very good front-end speed in the sprint events. We think she has the chance to compete right away for a spot on our 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay events. “
Kehoe is a butterfly specialist from St. Paul, Minn. She swam for Blackline Aquatics, the same club team as Billiken Emily Kishish. Kehoe turned in a time of 59.50 in the 100-yard butterfly at the Minnesota State Championships as a sophomore, a time which would be sixth all-time at Saint Louis. In addition to her prowess in the pool, she was selected to the medical scholars program at Saint Louis.
Coach Halliburton on Kehoe:
“Maddie will come in and give us needed depth to our butterfly group. We look forward to training with Maddie.”
Nichols comes to SLU from Marian High School in Omaha, Neb., alma mater of Billiken swimmer Alexa Gross. She is a high school All-American who competes in the butterfly and sprint freestyle events. Nichols holds the school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.42, which would rank seventh all-time at Saint Louis. She was on Marian teams that won the state title in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2014 and 2016.
Coach Halliburton on Nichols:
“I have seen Savannah swim several times at the Region 8 Sectional Meets. She can help our team out right away in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Savannah also has the potential to develop into a good 200-yard butterfly swimmer.“
Van Kirk is a four-year letterwinner from Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a distance freestyle and breaststroke specialist who qualified for the Ohio State Championships. Van Kirk has a career best of 5:05.68 in the 500-yard freestyle, which would rank sixth all-time at Saint Louis.
Coach Halliburton on Van Kirk:
“Christine comes to SLU with an excellent time in the 500-yard freestyle. We are hoping that she can also develop her longer distance events.”
Wanasek is from Burlington High School in Burlington, Wis. She competes in the freestyle and backstroke events. Wanasek has career bests of 10:38.55 in the 1000-yard freestyle and 17:50.41 in the 1650-yard freestyle. She also turned in times of 59.17 in the 100-yard backstroke and 2:09.46 in the 200-yard backstroke. Using her prep times, Wanasek would rank fifth all-time in the 200-yard backstroke, sixth in the 1000-yard freestyle, seventh in the 1650-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100-yard backstroke at SLU.
Coach Halliburton on Wanasek:
“Olivia will split her time between the distance freestyle and backstroke events. Her sisters (Sara at Cincinnati and Serena at Iowa) both improved a lot during their college careers and we think that Olivia has the potential to do the same.”
Borchers is a backstroker from Fairfield High School in Hamilton, Ohio. He is a YMCA Nationals qualifier. Borchers has career bests of 53.89 in the 100-yard backstroke and 1:56.19 in the 200-yard backstroke. His 200-yard backstroke time would be 16th all-time at Saint Louis.
Coach Halliburton on Borchers:
“Alex will add depth in the middle distance freestyle and the backstroke events. He is a talented backstroker who may also be able to swim in the distance freestyle events.”
Guist comes to Saint Louis from Oswego High School in Oswego, Ill. He is a middle-distance freestyler who has qualified for the Illinois state meet in the 500-yard freestyle in each of the past three seasons and the 200-yard freestyle in the last two. Guist was named All-State in the 200-yard freestyle as a senior. He holds school records in the 200-yard (1:42.73) and 500-yard ( 4:38.83) freestyle events.
Coach Halliburton on Guist:
“Tyler will provide much needed depth in the backstroke and distance events. We have graduated several swimmers in these two areas the past two seasons. He will compete right away for us.”
Loniewski is a versatile swimmer from Detroit Catholic Central in Detroit, Mich. He comes from a strong swimming background as both of his parents (Edward and Mara) swam at Michigan State. Loniewski is a three-time All-State honoree and a two-time All-American. He placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Michigan state meet, placing sixth with a time of 58.18 (would be 10th all-time at SLU).
Coach Halliburton on Loniewski:
“Matt had a good 100-yard breaststroke time last season. We hope that he can develop even further in the 200-yard breaststroke, an event that he does not yet have much experience. We expect Matt to compete in the backstroke and IM races for us next year.”
Martinez is a breaststroke, butterfly and IM specialist from Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, Ill. He has earned All-Conference and All-State accolades for the Indians. Martinez owns the school record in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:58.66. He also was a member of the record-holding 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relay teams.
Coach Halliburton on Martinez:
“Benjamin will add some depth to our butterfly, breaststroke and IM events. We also think he has the potential to be a good 400-yard IM swimmer.”
Paulson comes to the Billikens from Peoria Notre Dame, where he was a teammate of fellow signee Grant Streid. Paulson is a state qualifier in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke events. He also competed on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that finished second at the Illinois state meet. Paulson’s career best of 51.62 in the 100-yard backstroke would be the fifth-fastest time in SLU history.
Coach Halliburton on Paulson:
“Keegan is a backstroker who we are excited to get. We think that he can compete for a medley relay spot right away.”
Street comes to SLU from Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Ky. He competes in the distance freestyle and IM events. CollegeSwimming.com ranks Street as the ninth-best prep recruit in Kentucky. He finished fourth in the state in the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.89) and fifth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:41.18). Additionally, Street’s personal bests of 9:31.08 in the 1000-yard freestyle and 15:56.66 in the 1650-yard freestyle are faster than SLU’s current school records.
Coach Halliburton on Street:
“Scott is a very hard worker who improved a lot his senior year. He comes to SLU with times in the 1000- and 1650-yard freestyle events that are faster than our school records. We are excited for Scott to join our team.”
These signees join Emily Kishish, Nick Belecanech, Yousef Eldakak, Collin O’Brien and Grant Streid to round out the 17-member recruiting class of 2016.
Swimming news courtesy of Saint Louis Swimming & Diving.