Contact: Sam Fretto, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 6, 2025)- After a three-week hiatus, the North Central College swimming and diving team competed in the Illinois College Tri-Meet, where they faced the host, Illinois College, and Beloit College. In the duals, the Cardinals fell just short, 360-127 to Illinois College and 195-166 to Beloit.
The women kicked the day off with the 200-yard medley relay, where they placed in second with a total time of 2:08.33. Addison Bludgen started the event for North Central and paced them for second place with a time of 33.45 before Abigael Sheldon took to the water and was neck and neck with the rest of the competition, clocking in at 35.34. Celina McDaniel and Victoria Robison secured second place for the Cardinals, finishing strong with times of 30.03 for McDaniel and 29.61 for Robinson.
Caitlin Suda won the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 31.90, marking the first of three event wins for North Central. Sheldon took the other two events, winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.31 and the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:16.46. McDaniel achieved a season best in the 50-yard butterfly event, placing second with a time of 29.35, shaving 1.48 seconds off her time. Minarik recorded a season best in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:25.35, improving her time by 1.30. The third season's best set was Bludgen in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:11.55, taking off six tenths of a second.
The men's team won two events in the double dual, with Mihir Chandra taking first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.71 and Griffin Laurin in the 500-yard freestyle clocking in at 5:26.36. Chandra took second in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing the event in 22.92, while Clark Wilson made a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.70. Wilson also achieved a personal best in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 31.99, improving his time by 1.99 seconds. Laurin ended up with a season-best time in the 50-yard butterfly, improving his time by a tenth of a second to 27.67.
Swim and dive returns to action in the new year when they travel to Chicago to take part in a double dual where they face the Illinois Institute of Technology and Lewis University on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.
