WC Indiana News

Sycamores head to Jacksonville for North Florida Dual Meet

Indiana State is back in action this weekend as the Sycamores make the trip to the UNF Competition Pool Complex for a dual meet against the University of North Florida. The meet is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

 

The Sycamores hit the road for the final time of the 2022 calendar year with their farthest road trip of the season. The weekend meet also marks the first time Indiana State and North Florida have faced each other in their respective program histories.

 

Indiana State is coming off a strong week of training in Jacksonville in preparations for the meet, as well as looking ahead to the championship season in the spring.

 

"This weekend will be a bit of a test as we'll have to race at the end of a tough week of training," head coach Josh Christensen said. "It will be a good way to wrap up this block of the season, before we head into January and our final few meets."

 

The Sycamores' last meet against Indianapolis featured more individual records set as Zoe Smith (1M Diving) and Marni Gray (50 Fly) both setting new ISU performance marks in their respective events, while Rose Parsons and Trista Bullock also set personal-best swims on the afternoon.

 

ISU claimed two of the Missouri Valley's weekly honors following the performance against Indianapolis with Smith (Diver) and Raine Boles (freshman) both claiming top honors from the conference. Smith received recognition for the second time this season, while Boles became the second ISU freshman to receive the honors joining Peyton Heagy in earning MVC recognition.

 

The Sycamores continue to showcase their depth heading into the final meet of the winter with Indiana State currently sitting second in the MVC dual meet standings (709.60) and first in the championship rankings (682.07).

 

Andrea Putrimas continues her strong season sitting in the top-three in both the 200 Freestyle (1:51.43, 3rd) and the 500 Freestyle (4:54.48, 2nd). Esther Rydbeck Norden has also had a strong season in her first year in the Sycamore Blue & White sitting with the third-best times in the conference in both the 1000 Freestyle (10:13.36) and 1650 Freestyle (17:08.65).

 

Madie Rutan is also among the conference leaders sitting third in both the 100 Backstroke (55.00) and 200 Backstroke (1:59.32). The 200 Backstroke is one of ISU's stronger events on the year with four Indiana State athletes sitting among the top-10 on the MVC performance list this season with Olivia DiRuzza (2:00.33), Kalli Agapios (2:02.19), and Carmen Alard Vegas (2:02.36) joining Rutan among the Valley leaders.

 

Gray has the fastest time in the Missouri Valley in the 50 Fly this year (25.16) and sits top-10 in both the 100 and 200 Fly events on the season. Raine Boles is also among the Valley leaders in the 50 and 100 Fly, while Katie Dougherty is third overall in the conference standings with her time of 2:02.15.

 

Five Sycamores sit among the MVC leaders in the 100 IM led by Kaimi Matsumoto's time of 58.80 in ISU's last meet against Indianapolis. Alexandria Cotter is just outside the top three in the Valley this year in the 400 IM with her time of 4:23.20 at the Kansas Classic putting her fourth overall in the field.

 

Zoe Smith and Bailey Betzer wrap up the Sycamores among the top of the leaderboard with the duo sitting in the top-six in both the 1M and 3M diving events in the 2022-23 season. Smith set a new ISU mark in the 1M diving event against Indianapolis with her score 290.55 eclipsing the previous mark set by Bailey Betzer back in 2021 against Butler. Smith also has posted the top ISU finish in the 3M dive on the season with her score 282.68 sitting fourth overall in the Valley.

Original source can be found here.