On Saturday, November 9, the Forester Swim and Dive team traveled to Monmouth College, host of the annual Monmouth Invitational. The meet brings together four Midwest Conference teams, including reigning Conference Champion Grinnell College. This is the only time the Foresters will compete against these Conference opponents before the Midwest Conference Championships in February.
The women bookended the meet with wins in both their first event and the last event -- the 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays. Freshmen Jhanati Rajesh, Vanessa Ordaz, and Violet Anderson combined with Susan Guo for the 200 Medley. Anderson and Guo were joined by sophomore Kylie Morgan and senior Hannah Stinson for the 400 Free.
Some of the women who contributed to the relays went on to capture more victories for the Foresters in their individual events. Along with her strong splits in the relays, Guo placed first in the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly. Her teammate and relay-mate, Anderson, won both the 200 Individual Medley and the 500 Freestyle. Stinson raced to first place in her 100 Free.
On the men's side of the meet, the Foresters won three events overall. Junior Nathan Ulm put up a season best in his 50 Free to place first. In the 500 Free, Max Rowland out touched his teammate, sophomore Alec Pittman, to have the men go 1, 2 in the event. Marcus Carter-Buckman posted the fastest time in his individual event: the 100 Backstroke.
The women prevailed over Grinnell College, Illinois College, and Monmouth College, and the men finished second, placing behind Grinnell College in the final score.
The Foresters travel to Lawrence University next weekend to compete in the Gene Davis Invitational on November 16.