Illinois Wesleyan 2008-09 Swimming Stories

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February 14
Illinois Wesleyan's Meg Calabrese was the winner of both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin swimming and diving championships, held at IWU's Fort Natatorium on Saturday, Feb. 14. The swimming portion of the meet will take place Feb. 19-21 at Whearon College. Calabrese scored 349.85 points in winning the 1-meter event as teammates Lindsey DeSutter and Sam Sebastian finished second and third, respectively. The trio finished the same way in the 3-meter diving with Calebrese capturing 327.80 points in the win. The results will be included in the scoring next weekend.

February 10
Illinois Wesleyan freshmen Angela Lugg and Mike Firth were named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin swimmers of the week on Feb. 10 for their performances in the Feb. 7 double dual meet vs. North Central and Wheaton. Lugg (Woodbury, Minn., HS) won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:15.47 during a meet with North Central and Wheaton on Saturday. Her time was three seconds faster than her previous personal best. Lugg was also the winner in the 500 freestyle (5:14.88), which was an untapered best time. She also was the anchor for the second place 200 medley relay and the leadoff leg of the winning 200 freestyle relay. Firth (East Moline, Ill., United Township HS), winner of the CCIW honor for the second time this season, broke the school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.41, besting the old record of 54.27. He also won the 200 backstroke with a personal best time of 1:57.69, and had a third place finish in the 200 IM, in addition to a second place finish in the medley relay. Firth’s times in the 100 and 200 backstroke were CCIW bests this season.

February 7
The Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's swimming teams split against Wheaton and North Central in a double dual meet at Fort Natatorium on Saturday, Feb. 7. Both teams defeated North Central and lost to the Thunder. The men downed North Central, 96-19, and lost to Wheaton, 66-56. Double winners included freshman Mike Firth, who set a school record in the 100 backstroke in 53.41 seconds and also won the 200 backstroke, and sophomore Michael Kozak, who won the 100 and 200 butterfly. Chris Betzle won the 1000 freestyle, Sam Mitchell took the 200 freestyle, and the 200 free relay team of Kozak, Mitchell, Cameron Barnisch and Kendall Held also finished first. The women defeated North Central, 119-11, and narrowly lost to Wheaton, 71-67. Double winners were freshman Andrea Peterson in the 100 butterfly anf 100 backstroke and Angela Lugg in the 200 butterfly and 500 freestyle. Meg Calabrese won the 1-meter diving and Sam Sebastian took the 3-meter diving. The 200 free relay team of Lugg, Lauren Hansen, Angela Tomazin and Lia Anderson finished first with a time of 1:43.32.

January 27
Illinois Wesleyan freshman Mike Firth has been named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin male swimmer of the week. Firth (East Moline, Ill., United Township HS) achieved all untapered best times last weekend. Against Millikin on Jan. 23, he led off the 200 medley relay with an untapered best in the 50 backstroke with a time of 24.76, over a second faster than his previous best. In his individual events, he earned a first place finish in the 100 backstroke and a second place finish in the 200 individual medley. He had over a second drop in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.70, and he had a three-second drop in the 200 IM (2:06.33) for his untapered best time in that event. On Jan. 24 vs. DePauw, he dropped two seconds off of his lifetime best in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:00.39 to win that event. He also had another first place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.24. Wheaton freshman Moire Yue won the weekly honor for women.

January 24
The Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's swim teams lost in a dual meet to DePauw on Saturday, Jan. 24 at IWU's Fort Natatorium. The women lost by a count of 158.5-137.5 while the men fell by a score of 160-110. Despite multiple wins by Angela Lugg (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle), Andrea Peterson (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke)and Meg Calabrese (3-meter diving, 1-meter diving). Mike Firth (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke), Mike Kozak (200 butterfly, 100 butterfly)and Chris Betzle (500 freestyle, 400 individual medley) were multiple winners for the men’s team. The Wesleyan swimmers compete next at home on Feb. 7 against North Central and Wheaton in a double dual.

January 23
The Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's swim teams both finished with wins at Millikin in a dual meet on Friday, Jan. 23. The men's team won by a score of 110-92 while the women claimed a 129-72 victory. For the men, Mike Firth was a double winner with first place finishes in the 100 back and 200 individual medley, while other winners were Mike Kozak (100 fly), Sam Mitchell (100 free) and Robin Basu (500 free). Angie Tomazin (200 free, 500 free) and Angela Lugg (50 free, 100 fly) were double individual winners for the women while Andrea Peterson (100 free) and Amy Gradle (100 back) won their events. Both genders claimed first place finishes in the 200 medley and 200 free relays. The Titans host DePauw in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. at Fort Natatorium.

January 13
Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Eleanor Holisky has been named as one of three College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin swimmers of the week on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Holisky (Waukegan, Ill., HS) earned untapered best times in both of her events against Principia on Saturday, January 10. She dropped three-and-a-half seconds in the 500 freestyle and over three seconds in the 200 IM. Her time of 5:51.02 in the 500 freestyle was a first place finish and she was second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:31.75. She shares the women’s award with Rose-Hulman’s Katie Trella and Steven Vande Lune of Rose-Hulman won the men’s award.

January 10
Meet Results
The Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's swimming teams both defeated Principia in a dual meet at Elsah, Ill., on Saturday, Jan. 10. The Titan men won by a score of 132-64 while the women claimed a 158-60 decision. Junior Chris Betzle won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:07.38 and also took first in the 200 backstroke in 2:09 while freshman Tommy Gilbert won the 200 freestyle in 1:51.90 and swam legs on the first place 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Angie Tomazin finished first in both the 50 freestyle and 200 backstroke and swam a leg on the winning 400 free relay team. The Titans are back in action on Friday, Jan. 23 in a dual meet at Millikin.

December 5-6
The Illinois Wesleyan women's team finished sixth and the men's team placed tenth in the 10-team DePauw Swimming Invitational at Greencastle, Ind., on Dec. 5-6. Freshman Andrea Peterson set a school record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:13.97 during the preliminary heats on Dec. 5, then went on to finish seventh in the finals. Freshman Angela Lugg took home a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.73. On the men’s side, Mike Kozak took third place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.22 and Chris Betzle also earned third place finish in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:56.45. In the parallel Rose-Hulman diving competition, Meg Calabrese got first place in the 3-meter diving and second in the 1-meter. Lindsey DeSutter was third in both events and Sam Sebastian got fourth in the 3-meter and fifth in the 1-meter competition.

November 22
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s swimming and diving team placed first and the men’s team finished second at the IWU Invitational, held on Saturday, Nov. 22, at IWU’s Fort Natatorium. The Titan women amassed 179 points and were led by three wins from Andrea Peterson in the 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly, and 100 backstroke. Meg Calabrese won the 1- and 3-meter diving and Angie Tomazin was a winner in the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Angela Lugg took first in the 200 free and the women’s teams were victorious in the 200 medley and 200 free relays. The men scored 110 points, second to Lincoln College with 177. Mike Kozak (100 fly), Mike Firth (100 back) and Chris Betzle (500 free) all earned second place finishes and Betzle was also fourth in the 200 IM. The Titan teams placed second in both the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

November 8
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s team finished third and the men’s team finished fourth of eight competing in the Maroon Invitational at the University of Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Titan women amassed 430 points, led by first place finishes from Angela Lugg (in the 200 freestyle) and Lindsey DeSutter (1 meter diving). Lugg also finished fifth in the 50 free. Andrea Peterson got second in the 100 backstroke and third in the 400 individual medley. Women relay teams got third place in the 200 freestyle, 400 free and 800 free and second in the 200 medley relay. IWU’s men got 294 points helped by Mike Kozak’s third place finish in the 200 butterfly and fourth place finishes from Mike Firth (100 backstroke) and Chris Betzle (400 individual medley). Chicago won the women’s side with 1236 points and Washington U. took the men’s title with 1004.5 points.

November 4
Illinois Wesleyan freshman Andrea Peterson has been named women’s swimmer of the week in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Peterson (Homewood, Ill., Homewood-Flossmoor HS) won all four of her events in a dual meet at Rose-Hulman on Nov. 1. She had a personal best time of 2:15.55 in the 200 backstroke. She also won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:04.02 and was a member of the winning 200 medley relay (1:58.05) and 400 freestyle relay (4:02.17).

November 1
The Illinois Wesleyan women’s swimming team dominated Rose-Hulman, 101-26, while the men lost to Rose-Hulman (77-61) and Wabash (103-24) in a double dual meet at Rose Hulman in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Nov, 1. Senior Angie Tomazin collected first place finishes in the 100 and 200 freestyle and 100 fly, while freshman Andrea Peterson (100 and 200 backstroke), freshman Angela Lugg (50 and 500 freestyle) and sophomore Lindsey DeSutter (1 and 3 meter diving) were multiple winners for Wesleyan. The Titan 200 medley and 400 free relay teams were also victorious. For the men, Chris Betzle claimed the lone first place finish in the 1000 freestyle.

October 28
Illinois Wesleyan freshman Kristen Fredrickson and junior Mike Kozak have been named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin “Swimmers of the Week” on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Fredrickson (Claredon Hills, Ill., Hinsdale Central High School) achieved a lifetime best in the 200 breaststroke at Illinois Wesleyan’s Halloween Invitational with North Central, Millikin and Augustana on Oct. 25. She finished third with a time of 2:48.86, shaving off two seconds from her previous best time. Fredrickson also led off the 300 breaststroke relay with an untapered best time of 1:16.38. Kozak (Aurora, Ill., Waubonsie Valley High School) earned first place finishes in all three of his events at the Halloween Invitational. In the 200 butterfly, Kozak was over three seconds faster than his previous best for a first semester swim, winning with a time of 2:00.20. He then achieved an untapered best time in the 100 butterfly with his lead-off leg of 53.77. His third win of the meet came in the 200 freestyle relay as the Titans won that event with a time of 1:32.05.

October 25
Both the Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's swim teams claimed first place in the four-team IWU Halloween Invitational, held at Fort Natatorium on Saturday, Oct. 25. The women's team had 88 points (second place Millikin had 53) as first places were claimed by Angela Lugg (200 fly), Nicole Litzner (200 back) and Lauren Hansen (500 free). For the men, first place finishes came from Tommy Gilbert (200 free), Mike Kozak (200 fly), Cameron Barnisch (200 back) and Chris Betzle (500 free) as the team scored 91 points (Millikin got second with 64). The women won six relays (300 fly, 300 back, 300 breast, 300 medley, 200 medley, 200 free) and the men also won six (500 free, 300 fly, 300 medley, 200 back, 200 medley, and 200 free).

July 21
The 2008-09 Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's swimming and diving schedule gets underway on Saturday, October 25 when IWU hosts its own Halloween Invitational. The Titans are also hosts to a triangular meet with Rose-Hulman and Wabash on Saturday, November 1 at 1 p.m. Junior Mike Kozak and senior Angie Tomazin return as the winners of the "Most Valuable Performers" from last season. Kozak finished 16th in the 200 butterfly, 22nd in the 100 butterfly and 46th in the 50 freestyle at the NCAA Division III national swim championships in March. The lone Wesleyan entrant in the meet, Kozak swam a time of 1:52 in the finals of the 200 butterfly after posting a 1:51.44 in the preliminaries. Heading into the meet he had the nation's eighth best qualifying time in the 200 fly at 1:51.92. In the 100 butterfly he had a time of 50.52 seconds and he swam the 50 freestyle in 22.12 seconds. Kozak accounted for the lone IWU point at the national meet, which was won by Kenyon College for the 29th straight year.