Cally Tate Sets Two School Records, Finishes Second in 100 Backstroke

Men's Team Moves Up to Sixth in Team Standings

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/18/2024) — Sophomore Cally Tate (Monmouth, Illinois) set two school records and finished in second place overall during day two of the Midwest Conference Swimming & Diving Championships at Grinnell College on Saturday. After the second day of action the Monmouth College women are in seventh place with 154 points while the men moved up to sixth place with 158 points.

WOMEN
Tate qualified for the A final in the 100 backstroke, the first Monmouth swimmer to make the A final on the weekend. In the prelims, she just missed her own school record in the event with a time of 59.62. In the final, Tate had the lead after 50 yards and finished in second place, breaking her own record in 59.03 seconds. The second place MWC finish is the best for any Monmouth female swimmer since Anne Lane won the 200 butterfly and the 400 IM in 2008.

Nicole Fitch (Marengo, Illinois) qualified for the B final in the 400 IM with a time of 5:07.72. In the final she finished second in 5:01.09 for an overall ranking of 10th place and seven points.

Aiden Bach (Stetsonville, Wisconsin) qualified for the B final in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:12.05, a new PR and the 8th fastest time in Monmouth history. In the final she swam 1:12.42 to finish 14th overall for three points.

Mady Gaus (Herscher, Illinois) qualified for the B final in the 100 butterfly with a prelim swim of 1:06.07. She took sixth place in the B final with a time of 1:06.54 to earn three points in 14th overall.

The women's 200 medley relay team of Tate, Gaus, Bach and Claire LaBadie (Griffith, Indiana),finished fifth in 1:55.94. Tate broke her own 50m backstroke record with an opening leg swim of 27.70 seconds.

The women's 800 yard freestyle relay team of LaBadie, Fitch, Gaus and Bach finished in 5th place in 8:41.16 to earn 28 points.

MEN
The men put eight swimmers into B finals on Saturday. Tariq McLarty (South Holland, Illinois) posted the 3rd best 100 butterfly time in school history as he qualified for the B final in 53.56. He lowered that time in the final to 53.31 and finished 12th overall to earn five points.

In the 400 IM, Kody Coyne (Bluffton, Indiana) qualified in 4:46.97 with Ethan Main (Oneida, Illinois) in 4:56.83 and Brady Hild (Tremont, Illinois) in 5:21.51. Coyne won the B final in 4:38.94 to finish ninth overall and break into the top 10 in Monmouth history. Main was third in the B final, 11th overall in 4:54.56 and Hild finished 13th in 5:19.74.

Tristan Kennon (Flossmoor, Illinois) made the B final in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.12. In the final he swam 1:51.84 to earn one point with a 16th place finish.

Coyne also made the B final in the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.35, the 8th best time in Monmouth history. Camden Schmidt (Washington, Illinois) qualified in 1:02.47. Coyned moved into 7th with a 1:00.75 in the final to finish 10th overall and earn seven points while Schmidt brought in two points in 15th place at 1:02.75

Collin Heslin (Nashville, Tennessee) qualified in the 100 backstroke in 56.76 seconds, the 6th best time in school history. He went even faster in the final at 55.49 and earned six points with an 11th place finish.

The men's 200 medley relay team of Luke Foster (Galesburg, Illinois), Coyne, McLarty and Kennon finished fifth in 1:39.04 to earn 28 points.

The men's 800 yard freestyle relay team of Eli Wills (Blue Springs, Missouri), Main, Jaeden Peters (Greenfield, Indiana) and Kennon finished fourth in 7:37.52 and picked up 30 points.

The Midwest Conference Championships conclude on Sunday in Grinnell. The prelims start at 9 a.m. with the finals at 4 p.m.