Contact: Ashleigh Jones, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Dec. 9, 2017 (JACKSONVILLE, Ill.)- The North Central College men's and women's swimming and diving team swam strong, finishing with a total of four dual wins between the men's and women's team in the Illinois College Quad.

The North Central men's team tallied one dual win against Knox College finishing with a score of 142 points over Knox's 48. Thanks to early success in the men's 200-yard medley relay, the team made up of Austin Blaser, Nick Mielke, Ryan Lewellyan, and Luke Gentile finished in third with a time of 1:45.95.

The Cardinals continued its success in the 200-yard freestyle with Cameron Teel and Tabin Vrba finishing second (2:03.44) and third (2:07.72) respectively.
As the meet continued North Central tallied six other third place finishes and just one more second place finish.

The other second-place finish was earned by Mielke in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 56.56, a whole second faster than his recorded seed time.
Ian Greenway found himself as a top three finisher in both the 50 and 100-yard butterfly with a time of 27.94 and 1:05.33 respectively.

North Central's final three individual third-place finishers were Gentile in the 50-yard breaststroke (31.75), Nicholas Slinkman in the 50-yard freestyle (24.93), and Vrba in the 100-yard freestyle (58.29).

The Cardinals completed the meet with its final third-place finish in the 200 –yard freestyle relay with the team of Gentile, Teel, Blaser, and Mielke with a time of 1:40.35.

Despite having no first-place finishes the men's swimming and diving team continue to improve as the season continues.

The North Central women's team continued to swim past their opponents at the Illinois College Quad. Defeating all three of their opponents the Cardinals improve their dual record to 7 and 4.

Starting the meet once again on top the Cardinals earned first-place in the 200- yard medley relay with the team of Katherine Canfield, Marissa Hoppe, Beth Ryan and Samantha Kruzel, finishing with a time of 1:55.65.

From the first event on North Central continued their dominance, earning a top three spot in every event except for one.

Emily Vargo swam the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 12:58.90, putting her in third-place, just three seconds after the second-place finisher.

Kruzel had a great meet finishing in third for the 50-yard backstroke (31.89) and then earning first-place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.91.

North Central's accomplishments were a true team effort with Hoppe, Canfield, Ryan, and Danai Stylianou earning at least two top three finishes in their individual heats.

Hoppe swam the 50-yard breaststroke in 33.87 earning a well-deserved second-place. She continued her strong performance with another second-place win in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:12.28).

North Central kept the waves rolling with a 1,2,3 sweep in the 50-yard freestyle, with Ryan, Stylianou and Amy Feltz respectively. Ryan and Stylianou also took first and third-place in the 50-yard butterfly with the times of 27.43 and 29.44 respectively.

Also earning a spot on the boards Naomi Hill swam a 6:09.60, 500-yard freestyle; resulting in another third place finish for the Cardinals.

Canfield continued her route in the waters earning a first place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.73), and a second place finish in the 100-yard individual medley (1:05.62).

To close out the Illinois College Quad the women's team found its stroke and earned first-place in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with the help of Canfield, Feltz, Kruzel and Ryan.

Looking to build from this meets success the North Central College's men's and women's team will compete again on Saturday, January 13 at home in the Merner Field House. The meet time is to be determined.