Press Release courtesy of Indiana State Athletics.
The Indiana State Sycamores will open the 2017 regular season tomorrow(Sept. 30) at 1 p.m. as they travel to face off with Missouri Valley Conference opponent Illinois State. Then ISU will face off with Butler and other opponents in Indianapolis, Ind. at noon.
“As our team enters its second season as a program we are all very eager to face a rigorous dual meet schedule and there is no better way to start the season off with a dual meet at Illinois State. They are a strong program in the pool and on the boards, so we will look to do our best against conference opponent,” said head coach Matt Leach.
The Sycamores unofficially opened their season on Sept. 15 with a Blue vs. White intrasquad meet. Head coach Leach and assistant coach Bex Freebairn each selected teams and they faced off for a fun practice competition.
The Sycamores swam a total of 13 events and out of these, 12 meet records from last season were broken.
Numerous members of the squad showed strong during the intrasquad meet including notable returners Kendall Hansen and Jacquie Price.
Multiple new faces on this year’s roster also established themselves as competitors such as transfer Martina Marks as well as Vivian Kritikou.
Marks placed first in three events including the longest race of the day, the 500 yard freestyle.
Kritikou provided a first place finish in the 100 yard freestyle and added a second place finish as well.
Megan Schade and Marlene Pavlu Lewin also swam strong.
“Sunday will also be a great road test as we travel to Butler to face multiple opponents not only out of conference, but also in conference. Adding diving will help our overall team dynamic, but we also will use the weekend as a starting point to build off of as our divers learn and grow into their very young season,” said Leach.
Last season was Indiana State’s first season as a program and also first year as members of the Valley.
During the 2016-2017 season the Sycamores also defeated a few other opponents including Rose-Hulman, Eastern Illinois and a huge 143 to 107 win over the Butler Bulldogs.
Indiana State finished off the their inaugural 2016 season placing seventh at the Missouri Valley Conference meet in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Sycamores placed two student-athletes, Jacquie Price and Blanca Saez-Illobre, on the MVC Honorable Mention squad following their impressive performances at conference.
ISU has welcomed multiple new faces to the roster which will breathe new energy into the squad along with the addition of the diving program.
The Sycamores have been picked to finish seventh in the Valley this year with new MVC opponent Valparaiso being picked eighth and the defending champions Missouri State being chosen to once again take the title.
“The release of the MVC preseason coaches’ poll for us, is just that, a poll. We try to develop our team and add talent each year to our young program so we can continue to progress in the conference. I am a firm believer in the process, not the end result or the beginning. Each day our squad tries to get one percent better. If we can do that, we will be on the right track.”
For the latest information on the Sycamore Swimming and Diving team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.