WC Indiana News

Sycamores selected second in the MVC Swimming & Diving pre-championships poll

Indiana State swimming & diving was selected second overall in the Missouri Valley Conference pre-championships poll as announced by the conference office on Thursday afternoon. The poll was voted on by the league's head coaches.

 

ISU received 92 total points and four first-place votes to sit behind favorite Missouri State (95 points, five first-place votes) in their highest preseason poll ranking. Southern Illinois (81 points, one first-place vote), Illinois State (68 points), and Marshall (62 points) round out the top five in the poll.

 

The Sycamores boast their deepest roster under Head Coach Josh Christensen as Indiana State has assaulted the ISU record book this season. Eight different school records have been broken so far in the 2022-23 season, while the Sycamore performance list has been rewritten this year.

 

Among the new records set this season include Marni Gray setting the marks in both the 50 and 100 Butterfly, while ISU has also set new marks in the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay events. Additionally, Zoe Smith has shattered both diving marks in the 1M and 3M events, while Andrea Putrimas (500 Free) and Madie Rutan (100 Back) also set new marks this year at the Kansas Classic.

 

The Sycamores are headlined by the four-time MVC Diver of the Week in Smith, while returning All-Conference performers Gray, Rutan, and Alexa Szadorski provide experience to the roster heading into the conference championships.

 

The 2023 MVC Championships will feature a new scoring system with the top-24 athletes in each event adding to the team totals instead of the 16 it was in previous championships. The Sycamores possess the depth to place multiple people in the scoring in nearly every event which bodes well as ISU looks to snap a stretch of finishing third in each of the last four seasons.

 

Smith and Gray currently sit atop the conference standings in their events heading into the conference championships. Smith is the lone diver in the Missouri Valley to break 300 points in the 3M diving event, while the junior sits second in the conference in the 1M diving rankings. Gray is the conference leader in the 100 and 200 Butterfly events following her recent performance at the Tim Welsh Classic. She was also the 2021 MVC Champion in the 200 Fly.

 

Currently, eight other Sycamores are currently on the potential All-Conference list this season after sitting in the top-five in the MVC performance list this season. include Andrea Putrimas (200 Free - 4th, 500 Free – 2nd, 1650 – 5th), Esther Rydbeck Norden (1000 Free – 3rd, 1650 – 3rd), Rutan (100 Back – 3rd, 200 Back – 4th), Olivia DiRuzza (200 Back – 5th), Dorotea Bukvic (200 Breast – 5th, 400 IM – 3rd), Raine Boles (50 Fly – 4th), Katie Dougherty (200 Fly – 4th), and Alexandria Cotter (400 IM – 5th).

 

All five Indiana State relay teams also currently sit in the top-three in the conference standings including the 200 Free Relay (3rd), 400 Free Relay (2nd), 800 Free Relay (2nd), 200 Medley Relay (3rd), and 400 Medley Relay (3rd).

 

The Sycamores travel to the 2023 MVC Swimming and Diving Championships on February 15-18 held at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City, Iowa. Live results will be available via Meet Mobile.

Original source can be found here.