TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State suits up for the second time in the 2023-24 season as the Sycamores head to the Tim Welsh Classic this weekend for a two-day meet held at the Rolfs Aquatic Center hosted by Notre Dame.
 
The Sycamores are heading into one of their final tune-ups prior to the 2024 MVC Championships held on February 21-24 in Evansville, Ind. as ISU continues its preparations for the conference's premiere meet.
 
"This weekend is a great opportunity to rehearse all the races we'll be swimming at the MVC Championships, in a condensed format," head coach Josh Christensen said. "It's also a chance to compete against some of the best programs in the Midwest. We're definitely looking forward to making the most of the weekend and using it as a steppingstone toward the MVC meet."
 
It marks the second consecutive season Indiana State has traveled to the Tim Welsh Classic. ISU finished fourth last year in South Bend over January 27-28 as the Sycamores took on Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Akron at the two-day event.
 
Esther Rydbeck Norden posted the second-best time on the ISU Performance list in the 1000 Freestyle (10:10.54) at the event last season, while Dorotea Bukvic's personal-best in the 400 IM (4:20.64) also put her second all-time on the Performance List. The Sycamore 400 Freestyle Relay team of Chloe Farro, Peyton Heagy, Kaimi Matsumoto, and Alexa Szadorski put together the third-best time on the performance list in 3:23.94.
 
The Sycamores are coming off their first competition of the 2024 calendar year as ISU traveled to the SIU Tri-Meet on January 13 taking on host Southern Illinois and Quincy. The Sycamores topped Quincy in the scoring column, 254-39, but narrowly fell to SIU 151-149 at the Shea Natatorium.
 
The Sycamores took eight event wins on the afternoon highlighted by Chloe Farro sweeping the 50- and 100-yard Freestyle events, while Bailey Betzer picked up her first win of the season in the 3M Diving event. Claire Parsons, Kaleigh Kelley, and Alexandria Cotter also added individual wins on the day. Highlighting the team's depth, ISU swept both relay events at the meet.
 
Four school records fell the last time ISU put on the performance suits this season with Chloe Farro (100 Free), Claire Parsons (500 Free & 1650 Free), and Kaleigh Kelley (100 IM) all setting new Sycamore marks. Overall, ISU put 33 new marks on the Performance List at the meet with athletes setting personal bests in every single event.
 
Sycamores in the MVC Performance Top 10s

• Chloe Farro – 50 Free (23.17, t-2nd), 100 Free (50.02, 3rd)
• Erin Cummins – 200 Free (1:49.71, 3rd), 500 Free (4:56.33, 5th)
• Claire Parsons – 200 Free (1:50.49, 7th), 500 Free (4:51.86, 1st), 1000 Free (10:14.67, 4th), 1650 Free (16:52.20, 1st), 200 Back (2:02.18, 8th)
• Peyton Heagy – 200 Free (1:51.07, 8th)
• Haley Halsall – 500 Free (4:56.47, 6th), 1000 Free (10:22.94, 9th), 1650 Free (17:12.14, 6th), 200 Fly (2:01.89, 3rd)
• Alexandria Cotter –200 Fly (2:05.55, 10th), 200 IM (2:03.46, 10th), 400 IM (4:21.89, 3rd)
• Olivia DiRuzza – 200 Back (2:01.61, 6th)
• Ali Pearson – 50 Breast (29.31, 4th), 100 Breast (1:02.76, 4th), 200 Breast (2:16.38, 5th)
• Kaimi Matsumoto – 50 Breast (30.00, 10th), 100 Breast (1:03.87, 10th), 200 Breast (2:17.87, 6th), 50 Fly (25.62, 5th), 100 Fly (55.31, 6th)
• Dorotea Bukvic – 200 Breast (2:18.76, 8th), 200 IM (2:02.93, 5th), 400 IM (4:28.14, 10th)
• Kaleigh Kelley – 200 Breast (2:18.85, 9th), 100 Fly (55.38, 8th), 100 IM (57.36, 3rd)
• Raine Boles – 100 Fly (55.67, 10th)
• Raz Harel – 200 Fly (2:05.36, 9th)
• Zoe Smith – 1M Diving (278.93, 3rd), 3M Diving (298.95, 3rd)
• Bailey Betzer – 1M Diving (266.40, 4th), 3M Diving (275.25, 7th)

 
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