CCIW men’s swimming teams resume competition after winter break
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men's swimming and diving teams resumed competition after the holiday break, with several schools participating in dual and triangular meets.
Augustana began January by winning both matchups at its home triangular meet. The Vikings defeated Monmouth 221-14 and Coe 207-64. Junior Tyler Leslie contributed to the team's success, winning the 100-yard backstroke (52.13) and 100-yard butterfly (50.89), both personal bests, and helping secure victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay with teammates Luke Rettig, Bjorn Sievert, and Oskar Bannister. Matteo Graham won the 1650-yard freestyle (17:45.88), while Matthew Meyer took first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.88).
Carthage also started its year strongly with a 222-76 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Sophomore Tyson Politsch won three events: the 100-yard breaststroke (58.63), 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.26), and 100-yard butterfly (53.00). In diving, Taydin Murphy claimed victories on both boards, while Devon Kuhn posted a season-best score of 173.35 on the 1-meter board to earn CCIW Men’s Diving Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Freshman Sean Noller led Carthage's distance swimmers with wins in the 1000-yard (10:44.17) and 500-yard freestyle (5:12.71). Will Murray secured sprint victories in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle.
Illinois Wesleyan returned to action but lost to Rose-Hulman by a score of 117-73 despite strong individual performances from sophomore Tate Thomas, who swept the freestyle events with times of 50.87 seconds in the 100 yards and 1:49.14 in the 200 yards, as well as senior Jay Jenkins who won both the 100-yard backstroke and the 50-yard freestyle.
Carroll narrowly lost to Loras on the road, finishing behind by a score of 95-73 but earning points through swimming and diving events; Ben Miles won Carroll’s only swimming event in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.12), while freshman Dawson Schultz scored highest on the one-meter board with a mark of 164.65.
North Central participated last Saturday as well; Mihir Chandra placed third in his event during their dual at Illinois Tech.
Wheaton continues to lead many conference rankings so far this season, with Benjamin Coley leading times for three different events—the two shortest freestyles and one butterfly—while Isaac Eilmes leads longer distance races including both freestyles over one thousand yards plus an individual medley event.
Other top performers outside Wheaton include Augustana’s Bjorn Sievert leading conference times for short-distance freestyle sprints; Alejandro Jacob from Augustana holding fastest time for mid-distance breaststroke; Carthage’s AJ Landorf topping standings for individual medley.
Looking ahead, CCIW teams are scheduled for more meets through mid-January including Augustana traveling to Grinnell Invitational later this week, Illinois Wesleyan hosting Millikin and Illinois College on Friday, Carthage hosting Illinois Tech on Saturday, North Central visiting Monmouth that same day, and Carroll competing against Lawrence.