Men's & Women's Swimming Post Multiple Lifetime Best, Top 10 Times at UChicago Phoenix Fall Classic

The Big Blue men's and women's swim teams traveled to Chicago, Ill. on Friday, November 19 to compete in UChicago's Phoenix Fall Classic as a midseason meet. Millikin's swimmers tallied several lifetime best swims and top 10 times in MU history during the meet.

The competition was top notch, with NCAA Division I competitors Saint Louis University in the mix, along with tough Division III opponents UChicago, Lake Forest College, DePauw University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

The Big Blue women's team placed fourth as a team with a team score of 386, while the men placed sixth with a score of 114.

On the first night of competition, the Big Blue had two relay teams post top 10 swims. The team of Liv Marquardt, Aly Barnes, Laura Atkinson, and Brigid Duesterhaus in the 200 freestyle relay notched a time of 1:41.62, and the 400 medley relay team of Duesterhaus, Atkinson, Marquardt, and Barnes swam a time of 4:06.96.

On day two of competition, the prelims saw 20 lifetime best swims by way of the Big Blue swimmers to lead 12 individual swimmers to places in the finals in the night's session, with Atkinson seeded sixth heading into the 100 breaststroke finals.

In the nighttime session on Saturday, Millikin tallied 15 more lifetime best swims, including a number of top 20 swims. In the 1650 (mile), Hope Roderick was 13th, Avery Fisher placed 15th, and Shay Buchanan placed 16th. In the 200 IM, Duesterhaus placed 13th, and Katie Yelaska took 15th. The 500 freestyle saw Roderick place 19th with Barnes right behind her in 19th. In the 100 breaststroke, Atkinson placed seventh, and Kendall Rossignol was 11th. The 200 backstroke race saw Yelaska took 17th, followed by Duesterhaus in 19th. In the 100 freestyle, Marquardt was 18th, and in the 200 fly, Jaden Lockard placed 15th and Madeleine Erdmann took 17th.

Several top 10 swims in Millikin history were set during Saturday's sessions. Duesterhaus now stands as the sixth overall time in the 200 backstroke race in her time of 2:16.07, Yelaska moved up in the 200 backstroke to now hold the seventh slot in the 200 backstroke in her time of 2:16.35. Duesterhaus made her mark in the top 10 on the individual side for the second time on the day in the 200 IM with a time of 2:18.12, and the 200 medley relay team of Roderick, Atkinson, Marquardt, and Grace Meacham swam a 1:54.33 to tally the sixth best time in Millikin history.

The Big Blue returned Sunday for the final day of competition, with 16 lifetime best swims in the morning session, and eleven swimmers set to return to the pool for finals, including Yelaska and Roderick in the A finals in the 400 IM. Yelaska placed ninth with a time of 5:00.30, and Roderick was close behind in tenth with a time of 5:04.30. Rossignol was third in the event in her time of 5:20.86.

The women's relay team of Meacham, Barnes, Duesterhaus, and Yelaska placed eighth in the 800 yard freestyle relay in a time of 8:30.34 on Sunday. Millikin's Marquardt placed 12th in the 100 yard butterfly in her time of 58.61 in the finals, and Meacham placed 17th. In the 200 yard breaststroke, it was Atkinson placing 12th overall, and Rossignol following closely behind to place 14th.

Millikin's Marquardt placed first in the B final for 11th place in the 100 yard backstroke, and Barnes, Emma Cox, and Meacham all placed in the B finals as well. Duesterhaus placed 12th in the 50 yard freestyle in her time of 24.87. The 400 yard freestyle relay finals saw the Big Blue team of Barnes, Duesterhaus, Atkinson, and Marquardt place eighth in their finals time of 3:44.25.

On the men's side, the relay team of Diogomaye Bamba, KJ Hamlin, Mark Miller, and Dawsen Loafman were 20th in the 400 freestyle relay standings. The 200 yard freestyle team of Bamba, Justin Maniago, Carter Noyes, and Loafman placed 13th overall for MU. The 200 yard medley relay team of Loafman, Omar Ayad, Noyes, and Bamba were 19th, while the individual swim by Maniago in the 1650 was enough to place 17th.

To view the entire results from the three days of competition at UChicago's Phoenix Fall Classic, click here.

The Big Blue men's and women's swimming teams will be back in action on Friday, December 10 at the Illinois College Winter Invite in Jacksonville, Ill.

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Players Mentioned

Omar Ayad: Junior

Diogomaye Bamba: Sophomore

Dawsen Loafman: Freshman

Justin Maniago: Freshman

Mark Miller: Freshman

Carter Noyes: Freshman

Laura Atkinson: Junior

Shay Buchanan: Sophomore

Brigid Duesterhaus: Senior

Madeleine Erdmann: Senior

Avery Fisher: Senior

Liv Marquardt: Senior

Players Mentioned

Omar Ayad
: Junior

Diogomaye Bamba
: Sophomore

Dawsen Loafman
: Freshman

Justin Maniago
: Freshman

Mark Miller
: Freshman

Carter Noyes
: Freshman

Laura Atkinson
: Junior

Shay Buchanan
: Sophomore

Brigid Duesterhaus
: Senior

Madeleine Erdmann
: Senior

Avery Fisher
: Senior

Liv Marquardt
: Senior