Sycamores sweep Ball State and Southern Illinois on Senior Day

Marni Gray | Indiana State University Athletics

By Press release submission

Jan 20, 2023

Sycamores sweep Ball State and Southern Illinois on Senior Day

Indiana State swimming and diving made sure their 2022-23 seniors had a meet to remember on Senior Day as the Sycamores swept both Ball State and Southern Illinois in Saturday's meet at the Vigo County Aquatic Center.

Indiana State topped Ball State 197.00-103.00 and followed up by downing conference rival Southern Illinois 193.00-107.00 to win both parts of ISU's final home meet of the regular season. The Sycamores travel to Illinois State next weekend and the Time Welsh Invitational on January 27-28 prior to the MVC Championships.

"Today was everything you want in a Senior Day," head coach Josh Christensen said. "We were able to honor a really special class and then stepped up and competed well against two tough opponents. I could not be prouder of this group. We're in a great place and ready to get back to work on Monday, so we can carry this momentum toward conference."

The Sycamores picked up nine event wins over the day including sweeping both relays, while Marni Gray picked up wins in both the 100 and 200-yard Butterfly events in her final competition at the Vigo County Aquatic Center. Peyton Heagy (200 Free), Chloe Farro (50 Free), Alexa Szadorski (100 Free), Madie Rutan (200 Back), and Zoe Smith (1M Dive) also recorded individual wins for the Sycamores.

Indiana State's win marked the second time the Sycamores had topped SIU in the regular season in program history and first since the 2018-19 season. It was also Indiana State's third win all-time against Ball State.

The day started with the Sycamores recognizing their 12-person Senior Class as Carmen Alard Vegas, Carmina Armstrong, Molly Fogarty, Marni Gray, Tori Johns, Marissa Kozel, Kaimi Matsumoto, Sarah Moreau, Colleen O'Connor, Andrea Putrimas, Rachel Sanqunetti, and Rhiannon Wozny were all honored on the pool deck.

From there on, it was all Sycamores starting with the meet-opening 200-yard Medley Relay.

ISU took first and third in the opening event paced by the quartet of Alard Vegas, Matsumoto, Gray, and Szadorski touching in 1:44.00 to win the event by a full-second over Ball State. Rutan, Elle Gilkerson, Raine Boles, and Farro finished in 1:46.46 to take third, while Katie Dougherty, Dorotea Bukvic, Alexandria Cotter, and Armstrong finished seventh in 1:50.01. The final ISU group in the field finished 10th as Johns, Kamila Nowak, Moreau, and Kozel touched in 1:50.98.

Esther Rydbeck Norden, Rose Parsons, and Haley Halsall added top-five finishes in the 1000-yard Freestyle event to keep the ISU momentum rolling. Rydbeck Norden went 10:28.84 to finish second in the field, while Parsons finished in 10:34.06 to place fourth. Halsall went 10:34.28 to place fifth, while Fogarty (10:35.26, 6th) and Wozny (10:39.51, 7th) also added top-10 finishes in the event.

Heagy picked up ISU's first individual win of the afternoon as the freshman topped the field in the 200-yard Freestyle with her time of 1:52.72 defeating SIU's Karen Rodriguez Cardenas (1:52.79) to take the title. Jordan Gruce (1:54.23) finished third overall, while Putrimas (1:55.94, 5th) Kalli Agapios (1:56.03, 6th), and Cotter (1:57.20, 8th) all were among the event leaders.

Rutan led five Sycamores in the top-12 in the 100-yard Backstroke as the junior touched the wall in 57.75 to finish second in the field. Alard Vegas (57.99, 5th) added a top-five finish, while Olivia DiRuzza (59.40, 7th), Sanqunetti (1:00.54, 10th), and Johns (1:01.84, 12th) also took on the field.

Matsumoto was tops among ISU in the 100-yard Breaststroke with the senior's time of 1:05.90 putting her fifth overall in the field. Gilkerson finished just behind her teammate in sixth with 1:06.37, while Bukvic was ninth in 1:07.57. Makayla Sura rounded out the group in 12th in 1:11.61.

Gray picked up her first individual win of the day in the 200-yard Butterfly as the senior continued a strong final campaign in topped the field in 2:05.81. Dougherty finished third overall in 2:016.19, while O'Connor added a strong swim to place sixth in 2:09.26. Halsall (2:09.99, 8th) and Rebecca Shaffer (2:12.84, 11th) also took on the field for the Sycamores.

Farro led three Sycamores in the top-five and five in the top-10 in the 50-yard Freestyle event to put Indiana State back on top of the podium. The sophomore out-touched Ball State's Apsara Sakbun 24.25-24.27 to take the event win. Raine Boles finished fourth in 24.47, while Heagy was fifth in 24.54. Agapios was eighth in the field in 24.69, while Armstrong rounded out the group in 24.86 to finish 10th.

Bailey Betzer was Indiana State's leader in the 3M diving competition as the junior placed second in the field with a score of 247.95. Smith was sixth overall in 224.00, while Daniela Orta Castaneda finished 11th in 198.90.

Szadorski led the Sycamores in the 100-yard Freestyle as the sophomore picked up her first individual win of the day. She out-touched teammate Farro 52.16-52.19 to take the event win, while Heagy finished fourth in 52.62. Armstrong was also among the event leaders finishing in 53.75 to take sixth. Kozel rounded out the group in 55.28 to place 13th.

The Sycamores put the top four athletes in 200-yard Backstroke event led by Madie Rutan's winning time of 2:03.25. Agapios (2:05.22, 2nd), DiRuzza (2:05.27), and Alard Vegas (2:05.70, 4th) all finished among the event leaders, while Johns rounded out the group in 2:12.12 to finish 11th.

Bukvic led Indiana State in the 200-yard Breaststroke finishing second overall in 2:18.76 to lead the Sycamores. Matsumoto (2:24.86) and Gilkerson (2:24.96) finished sixth and seventh overall, while Sura took 10th in the field in 2:32.35. Nowak added a 2:33.00 to finish 11th overall.

Rydbeck Norden was ISU's leader once again in the 500-yard Freestyle as the junior finished third in the field in 5:07.91. Gruce was behind her teammate in 5:08.76, while Wozny (5:13.13, 6th), Fogarty (4:13.87), and Halsall (5:16.62, 10th) added top-10 finishes.

Gray added her second win of the day in the 100-yard Butterfly as the senior won the event by nearly a full second with a time of 55.86. Moreau finished third overall in 57.01, while Boles (58.20, 6th) and Cotter (59.32, 8th) added top-10 finishes. Shaffer placed 13th in the field in 1:00.22.

Smith bounced back in the 1M diving event as the junior topped the field with a score of 265.20 to pick up another win. Betzer was fourth in 244.35, while Orta Castaneda placed ninth in 197.25.

Bukvic led five Sycamores in the top-seven in the 200-yard IM as the Sycamores finished the individual swimming events strong on Saturday afternoon. Her time of 2:07.12 put her second in the field, while Cotter (2:07.72, 3rd), Szadorski (2:07.92, 4th), Dougherty (2:10.00, 6th), and Alard Vegas (2:11.57, 7th) helped pace the Sycamores.

ISU finished the day's events like it started with the Sycamores topping the field in the 200-yard Freestyle Relay. The team of Matsumoto, Heagy, Farro, and Szadorski touched the wall in 1:34.63 to win the event, while the Boles-Armstrong-Gray-Agapios group finished third in 1:36.80. ISU's final two teams of Kozel-Wozny-Sanqunetti-O'Connor (1:40.56) and Moreau-Fogarty-Putrimas-Johns (1:41.36) finished seventh and eighth respectively.

Top ISU Performers in Each Event

200-yard Medley Relay: Carmen Alard Vegas, Kaimi Matsumoto, Marni Gray, Alexa Szadorski (1:44.00, 1st)

1000-yard Freestyle: Esther Rydbeck Norden (10:28.84, 2nd)

200-yard Freestyle: Peyton Heagy (1:52.72, 1st)

100-yard Backstroke: Madie Rutan (57.75, 2nd)

100-yard Breaststroke: Kaimi Matsumoto (1:05.90, 5th)

200-yard Butterfly: Marni Gray (2:05.91, 1st)

50-yard Freestyle: Chloe Farro (24.25, 1st)

3M Diving: Bailey Betzer (247.95, 2nd)

100-yard Freestyle: Alexa Szadorski (52.16, 1st)

200-yard Backstroke: Madie Rutan (2:03.25, 1st)

200-yard Breaststroke: Dorotea Bukvic (2:18.76, 2nd)