ST. LOUIS -- Saint Louis swimming and diving head coach Jim Halliburton has announced the signing of four student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to attend the University and compete for the Billikens beginning next fall.
The four new Billikens are Ellie Benge (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North H.S.), Claire Brewer (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville H.S.), Claire Koh (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community H.S.) and Nick Soltys (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep H.S.).
Benge specializes in the butterfly events. She finished third in the 200 fly at the Illinois Senior State Championships and has qualified for the NCSA Junior Nationals. With a top 200 fly time of 2:04.50, Benge compares favorably with swimmers who qualified for last year's Atlantic 10 Conference Championship “A” final.
Brewer is primarily a sprint freestyler who also swims backstroke and butterfly events. She is an Indiana State Championships qualifier who will contribute in the sprint events and add depth to the Billikens.
Koh competes in the middle-distance freestyle and individual medley events. An Illinois State Championships qualifier, her top 500 free time of 4:58.92 would have scored at last year's A-10 Championships.
Soltys is the third-ranked recruit in Nebraska according to collegeswimming.com. The sprint freestyler finished third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free at the Nebraska State Championships. Soltys is expected to make a significant impact in the Billikens' sprint group and immediately compete for relay spots.
