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Brennan Bladel
Sarah Ritter

Leathernecks Open 2019 Slate at IUPUI

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Western Illinois swimming and diving season officially begins with a road dual meet

REGULAR SEASON OPENER
 
The Western Illinois swimming and diving team is excited to jump into the pool at IUPUI in Indianapolis on Saturday (Oct. 19) at 1 p.m.
  
MEET INFORMATION | The 2019-20 Leathernecks will officially begin the season in a road dual meet against IUPUI.
 
A LOOK BACK | The Leathernecks entered 25 new times in the program's top-10 all-time marks at the 2019 Summit League Championships, where the men finished fourth with 415.5 points, while the women took fifth with 274.5 points.
 
SWIMMERS TO WATCH | Brennan Bladel, Adam Peterson, Miranda Mathus and Laramie Reed were all named Western Illinois' Swimmers to Watch for the 2019-20 season, the Summit League announced Thursday (Sept. 26).
 
A senior from Davenport, Iowa, Bladel holds the Western Illinois record in the 200-free with a time of 1:39.54 and the 200-backstroke (1:50.34). The Davenport North Earned Summit League Swimmer of the Week for the weeks of Oct. 16, 2018, and Oct. 23, 2018, becoming the first WIU men's swimmer to obtain that honor twice in a season since 2009. Bladel took home his second All-Summit League honor in 2018.
 
Peterson broke onto the scene as a freshman in 2018 and quickly set a pair of school records at the 2019 Summit League Championships. He holds the Western Illinois school record in the 100-free (44.98) and the 50-free (20.38). The Pekin, Ill., native cracked into the top-10 as he currently ranks ninth all-time at WIU in the 100-backstroke (57.50).
 
Mathus set multiple personal bests throughout the 2018-19 campaign. She recorded two of her fastest times at the 2018 House of Champions (2:09.47 in the 200-IM and 1:53.93 in the 200-free).
 
A native of Springfield, Ohio, Laramie Reed climbed the WIU record book last season. As a sophomore, Reed stands sixth all-time at Western Illinois in the 200-breaststroke (2:25.05) and fifth all-time in school history in the 100-breaststroke (1:06.52).

The Summit League also revealed the 2019-20 preseason polls. The Leatherneck men were picked fourth with 14 points, while the women were selected fifth with nine points.
 
Western Illinois gets the 2019-20 season underway with the Purple & Gold Alumni Meet Friday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. from Brophy Hall. The regular season begins on Oct. 12 with a dual meet against Green Bay.
 
NEWCOMERS | This season, eight new freshmen will compete for the Western Illinois women's team. Allison Fellner, Anika Gram, Olivia Leslie, Skyler Robinson, Allison Spielman, Crieghton Beshears, Lincoln Greseth and Gray Maloney are freshmen who will compete for the first time at the collegiate level this season.

UP NEXT | The Western Illinois women's squad continues the regular season on Friday (Nov. 1) with a dual meet at Omaha followed by both teams competing in Sioux Falls, S.D., versus South Dakota, South Dakota State and St. Cloud State on Saturday (Nov. 2).
 
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