Terre Haute, Ind.—As the Indiana State swimming and diving team continues to prepare for their first Missouri Valley Conference Championships, head coach
Matt Leach can rest assured that he is already building champions.
The Sycamores earned the CSCAA Scholar All-American Award for their academic success in the fall 2016 semester. The award recognizes those programs that achieved and maintained a 3.0 grade point average or higher.
While the transition from high school to college academics and simultaneously diving right into a collegiate athletic career can be a hard one, the Sycamores handled it in stride under the leadership of their coaching staff.
"Our student-athletes did a great job academically this past semester and we look to build off of that, year in and year out. Indiana State always holds its athletics programs to a very high standard. We look to continue building off of this great start so we can reach higher standards to mimic Softball, Cross Country, Volleyball and Soccer. These teams continue to reach high academic levels and we hope to follow ISU's rich history of academic success," said Leach.
ISU accompanied this academic success with great athletic achievements in their inaugural season. The all freshmen squad defeated Rose-Hulman, Eastern Illinois, and had their most prominent win over the Butler Bulldogs on Jan. 14.
Along with these wins ISU competed strong from week to week. The Sycamores managed to set new school records at every meet they competed in this season.
Indiana State also added another achievement when
Blanca Saez-Illobre became the first Sycamore swimmer to earn MVC Swimmer of the Week honors following her performance against Butler.
Saez-Illobre set new school records in two out of her three individual events which she had previously held. The 200 Medley relay was also a new school record with a time of 1:48.71.
The Sycamores will now travel to Iowa City, Iowa to compete in their first ever MVC Championships on Feb. 15 through Feb. 18. ISU will look to continue to grow upon their success and post a competitive performance while competing with the rest of the Valley.
