MONMOUTH, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's and women's swimming & diving teams will compete in their second dual meet of the season on Friday, October 27 when they visit the Monmouth Fighting Scots. Augie will then head to Bloomington the following day to participate in the annual Illinois Wesleyan Halloween Invite.

Both the Augustana men and women sit 1-0 on the season after a season-opening win over North Central two weekends ago. The men were victorious by a score of 150-24, while the women secured a 174-24 win. 

In their first outing of the 2023-24 season, the men and women not only placed first in every event, but secured a top three finish in every race outside of just one. In relays, the women's 200-medley composed of Mara Walker (back), Livy Sholl (breast), Zoe Heiar (fly), and Caitlin Stoddard (free) clocked in at 1:52.71 to claim first. In the same race on the men's side, the team of of Lucas Rettig (back), Kacper Cebula (breast), Hunter Craft (fly), and Albert Buvary (free) finished with a time of 1:37.3. Both teams finished several seconds faster than last year's opening-season race in those events.  The Vikings finished the meet taking gold in the 400-free relay on both ends. The women's relay made up of Brooke Walker, Kylee Blaha, Isabelle Sansom, and Olivia White finished first with a 3:53.23. On the men's side, Cesar Castillo, Jack Brandt, Nathan Mesina, and Sam Kulisek clocked in at 3:20.29.

Other first-place finishes included Cebula posting a 2:01.00 in his 200-IM and 1:01.8 in the 100-breast, as well as Bella Casanovas in the 100-fly and 500-free with times of 1:03.24 and 5:30.84. Both were named the CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week following their performances. Other winners from the meet can be found here.

Friday will be the first dual meet of the season for both the Monmouth men and women. Both teams posted an identical 4-4 record in 2022-23. 

The Augie men are 40-11 all-time against Monmouth, having won last season's meeting in Rock Island by a score of 187-23. The Augustana women are 15-5 against the Fighting Scots, also winning last year's encounter by a final of 183-34. Start time on Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. Live video can be found here.

Following the dual meet, the Vikings will head to Illinois Wesleyan for the first of two trips to Bloomington this year to compete in the Halloween Invite. Both the men and women claimed first-place finishes last season. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.