McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's and women's swimming and diving teams are set to begin their 2025-26 season by hosting the IWU Halloween Invite on Saturday, October 25. The event will take place at Fort Natatorium in Bloomington, with competition starting at 1 p.m.

Teams participating in the meet include Anderson University, Augustana College, and Millikin University for both men's and women's events. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology will compete on the women's side.

This meet marks the debut of head coach Dan Lloyd and assistant coach Brooke Walker for Illinois Wesleyan. Lloyd returns to his hometown after an 11-year tenure at Augustana College, bringing Walker with him. Walker recently completed her collegiate swimming career under Lloyd at Augustana, earning All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honors throughout her four years. Together, they contributed to three CCIW team championships.

Illinois Wesleyan's roster includes 13 returning swimmers from last season. Three freshmen—Libby Hamer (Macomb), Ellen Hoover (Naperville), and Abby Schnittker (Lombard)—will compete for the Titans for the first time.

The team also brings back three all-conference performers. Senior Natalie Porter is a two-time defending CCIW Champion in the 1650-yard freestyle, winning titles in both 2024 and 2025. She also earned all-conference recognition in the 500-yard freestyle last year. Sophomore Isabella Cano finished third in the 100-yard butterfly at her first CCIW Championship appearance. Senior Kayleigh Kuschewski enters her final season with four all-conference honors; she has finished second in the 100-yard backstroke each of the past three years and was part of a championship-winning 200 Medley Relay team in 2024.

At last year's Halloween Invite, which featured several non-traditional events, Illinois Wesleyan's women secured second-place finishes in multiple relays: the 500-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay, and 200-yard freestyle relay. Kuschewski teamed up with Julianna Boyle, Natalie Porter, and Alexa Starkey for a runner-up finish in the 500 free relay. In other relays, Kuschewski joined Starkey, Cano, Emily Marks, and Julia Jozwiak for additional top-two results.

Individual highlights included top-five finishes from Jozwiak (fifth in the 100 freestyle), Kuschewski (fifth in the 200 backstroke), and Porter (fourth in the 500 freestyle).

On the men's side during last year's invite, Tate Thomas, Jacob Nacional, Jay Jenkins, and Carter Dilger placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Nacional also took third place in the 200-yard butterfly. Thomas finished fifth in the 200 free while Colin McKibben was fifth in the 200 backstroke.

Fans can watch a live stream of Saturday's meet online. Results will be posted on iwusports.com following completion of competition.