As the last meet of the regular season before UAA and national championship meets, the Maroons are traveling to Lake Forest to compete against the Foresters and Olivet Nazarene.
Coming off of huge wins against nationally ranked Calvin and DePauw this past weekend, with many individuals winning events, the South Siders are expecting a fun last regular season meet that would propel them into success for the post season.
The women’s team is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation, while the men’s team has moved up in rankings to No. 9. Although the squad just took down two ranked opponents, the teams they face this weekend are not to be taken lightly.
This past weekend, the Foresters men’s team split with a win against Lawrence and a loss against UW–Whitewater while the women lost both. Both Lake Forest squads will almost certainly look to use this match as a rebound from their somewhat disappointing weekend.
While the fact that the Foresters haven’t done as well as the Maroons this season should give them some confidence, Olivet Nazarene is coming into Ratner with some swagger. The Olivet men’s and women’s teams are both ranked No. 5 in the country. The women’s team also has revenge on its mind; on January 9 they split a meet with a win against Lewis and a loss against the Maroons. In the same January meet, the men’s Olivet Nazarene team won against both squads.
Olivet Nazarene also has another meet the day before they take on the Foresters and the South Siders. They will face Wheaton College, and since Chicago took on Wheaton in October, perhaps it will be an indication of how the meet on Saturday will go. Both the men’s and women’s squads defeated Wheaton at the beginning of the season.
Third-year Maya Scheidl, who won the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events and contributed to the 400-meter freestyle relay this past weekend, believes this meet will be a good one to end the regular season with.
“I think this weekend will be exciting because it marks the end of our dual meet season, which means we are entering championship season soon after! I think most of us are pretty pumped to have a fun and successful last meet,” said the perennial leader.
Although they have taken on a slew of ranked opponents which translates into tough meets, Chicago is far-sighted in their training methods. For the sake of preserving their bodies and staying healthy, the men’s and women’s swim and dive team will experience a drop-off in training and workouts in preparation for UAA and national championships.
Scheidel comments on the way the South Siders will treat this meet as a last chance for the squad with the post season on the horizon. “Because many of us will start to taper in a little over a week, this meet is one of our last chances to race in a formal meet setting before Conference,” she said.
The meet will be at Lake Forest College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
