PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. – The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin swimming & diving programs concluded the 2020-21 season in a culminating event titled the "CCIW Cup Series" this weekend. With the limitations and restrictions due to fears over COVID, the typical three-day conference championship could not be held this year, meaning all teams could not compete at the same time in the same location.
 
Instead, three meets were run separately: Friday at Carthage College—Carroll and Millikin; Saturday at Wheaton College—Wheaton, Illinois Wesleyan and North Central; and Saturday at Carthage College—Augustana and Carthage. All the conference events that would typically be run over three days were run in one day and the results were combined at the conclusion of the weekend from the three sites.
 
Medals were awarded to the top three finishers in each event and the top relays. No team scores were kept since all teams competed separately.
 
Augustana crowned a total of three champions Saturday, as junior Aviana Zahara (Pleasant Valley HS, Moline, Ill.) captured the 50 freestyle in :24.20, sophomore Dominique Valentine (Walnut Hills HS, Cincinnati, Ohio) won the 500 free in 5:15.64 and freshman Katie Zaborenko (Glenbrook South HS, Glenview, Ill.) totaled 291.60 points to win the one-meter diving competition.
 
Coach Dan Lloyd's Vikings recorded an additional eight medal-winning performances. Zahara placed second in the 100 backstroke (:58.57) and third in 100 free (:53.81) and Valentine also took second and third in the 200 (a school-record 2:12.42) and 100 (:59.69) butterflies, respectively. Collecting bronze were sophomore Amy Nicholson (East Leyden HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) in the one-meter diving (200.45), junior Lauren Raike (Alamo Heights HS, San Antonio, Texas) in the 400 individual medley (4:46.79), junior Madelynn Marunde (Belvidere North HS, Belvidere, Ill.) in the 100 breaststroke and freshman Olivia White (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) in the 1650 free (18:46.12).
 
 "We showed great mental toughness as we raced three days of competition in just four hours," commented Lloyd on his team's performance. "I'm very proud of the way they competed and the passion they showed in representing our program. Not being able to swim against all your competition in person is a challenge. We will definitely be excited to face everyone together in person next season."
 
Other top efforts for Augustana included Marunde (5:20.16) and White (5:20.47), who finished fourth and fifth in the 500 free. Freshman Emily Martin (Fort Zumwalt West HS, Troy, Mo.) (2:11.81) and Raike (2:13.88) did the same in the 200 IM and Marunde (2:28.64), Raike (2:32.52) and Martin (2:32.53) went fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke. Freshman Micaela Koeppen (El Modena, Orange, Calif.) turned in a sixth-place 1:01.29 in the 100 butterfly.
 
Freshman Addison Larson (Kimberly HS, Kimberly, Idaho) placed seventh (19:05.60) in the 1650 free and White was seventh (2:01.90) in the 200 free. Seten (:24.94) and Koeppen (:25.01) logged respective seventh and eighth-place finishes in the 50 free and sophomore Maddie FcFarland (Barrington HS, Tower Lakes, Ill.) placed eighth (2:14.73) in the 200 backstroke.
 
The Viking 200 medley relay team of Zahara, Marunde, Koeppen and Seten placed second in 1:49.76. Augustana recorded third-place finishes in the 200 freestyle (1:38.15), 400 medley (4:08.48) and 400 freestyle (3:39.20) relays. Zahara, Koeppen, sophomore Megan Frost (McHeny HS, Lakemoor, Ill.) and Seten made up the 200 free unit, with
Zahara, Frost, Raike and Seten swimming the 400 free relay. The medley quartet was comprised of Martin, Raike, Valentine and junior Alicia Garcia (Seminole HS, Lake Mary, Fla.).