ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University head swimming and diving coach Jim Halliburton has announced the addition of 18 student-athletes to the Billikens' 2020-21 men's roster.
 
Nine of the new Billikens signed a National Letter of Intent. They are Ryan Auran (St. Paul, Minn./Saint Thomas Academy), Philip Costello (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East), Alex Daw (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central), Sam Hernandez (Cibolo, Texas/Byron P. Steele II), Ethan Highley (Louisville, Ky./Saint Xavier), Tom Irvine (Goshen, Ky./Saint Xavier), Garrett Munk (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep), Sean North (Leawood, Kan./Blue Valley North) and Jack Thorell (Willow Springs, Ill./Lyons Township).
 
Also joining the team are Gabe Costantini (Centerton, Ark./Bentonville West), Ethan Gray (Pasadena, Calif./Saint Francis), Joseph Grese (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North), Danny Hinkle (Fleming Island, Fla./Orange Park), Anthony Kirchner (Tampa, Fla./Jesuit), Jack Locke (Midway, Ky./Sayre School), David Ruetten (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb), Henry Siegelman (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) and Jonathan Wilson (Honolulu, Hawaii/Saint Francis).
 
"I'm very excited about our men's recruiting class, which is the largest men's class we have ever recruited at SLU," Halliburton said. "Our main goals were to get some breaststrokers and sprinters, and I think we hit a home run in both areas. We also needed to replace our 2020 graduating class, which is probably the second-best class in school history, with a very talented group of incoming freshmen. I'm confident a lot of our newcomers can compete for relay spots and for top-three spots in many events, so I'm very happy."
 
Ryan Auran
Has recorded very fast times in the sprint freestyle, backstroke and butterfly events … Halliburton hopes Auran can help replace 2020 graduate Grant Streid, the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference champion in the 100 fly, with his time of 50.18 … also will provide needed depth in the 100 back (50.63) and could compete for a 200 free relay spot with his 50 free time of 21.09.
 
Philip Costello
Kansas state champion in the 100 breast … Halliburton hopes Costello can help replace 2020 graduate Collin O'Brien, the 2019 A-10 champion in the 200 breast, in the breaststroke events … should compete right away for a spot on the medley relay … his 100 breast time of 56.21 would have placed at the 2020 A-10 Championships … top 200 breast time is 2:06.88 … also expected to swim some sprint free events and the 200 IM.
 
Alex Daw
Improved his 200 IM time by more than three seconds at last season's Illinois State Championships … should help right away in the breaststroke and IM events … best times are 58.71 in the 100 breast and 1:53.19 in the 200 IM.
 
Sam Hernandez
Another top breaststroker who has a chance to help right away and compete for a 400 medley relay spot … best times are 56.84 in the 100 breast and 2:05.31 in the 200 breast … also expected to compete in the 200 IM.
 
Ethan Highley
Will compete primarily in the freestyle and backstroke events … swam for Saint Xavier, which has won more than 30 consecutive state titles, and was a member of the state champion 200 medley relay team … best times are 21.2 in the 50 free, 47.1 in the 100 free, 1:42.4 in the 200 free, 52.0 in the 100 back and 1:53.4 in the 200 back.
 
Tom Irvine
A very well-rounded swimmer who can swim almost every stroke and every event competitively … best times are 1:42.9 in the 200 free, 4:38.3 in the 500 free, 58.8 in the 100 breast, 51.6 in the 100 fly and 4:05.6 in the 400 IM.
 
Garrett Munk
Follows a long list of great SLU swimmers from Brophy Prep and Phoenix Swim Club, including school-record holders Ryan McCoy and Isaiah Williams … has shown great potential in the backstroke and butterfly events … best times are 50.7 in the 100 back, 1:55.5 in the 200 back, 51.9 in the 100 fly and 1:55.2 in the 200 fly … also has a 1:54.7 in the 200 IM … capable of competing in some of the freestyle events as well.
 
Sean North
Younger brother of Brian North, one of the top sprinters in school history … also a fast sprinter with times of 20.75 in the 50 free and 46.26 in the 100 free … expected to compete for our "A" sprint relays right away … his 50 free time would have placed at the 2020 A-10 Championships … also has shown some talent in the sprint butterfly events. 
 
Jack Thorell
An outstanding sprinter who placed very well at the Illinois State Championships last season … his 50 free time of 20.61 would have been SLU's fastest in 2019-20 and would have placed at the A-10 Championships … his 100 free time of 45.2 also would have made the A-10 finals … also known to be a very good relay swimmer with a best relay split of 19.9, which would rank very high on SLU's all-time list. 
 
Gabe Costantini
Will primarily swim the breaststroke for the Billikens … best times are 1:00.7 in the 100 breast and 2:11.4 in the 200 breast … father, Fred, was an All-Conference swimmer at Pittsburgh.
 
Ethan Gray
Will help the most in the 200 fly … also solid in middle-distance freestyle and the 200 IM … best times are 52.8 in the 100 fly, 1:54.4 in the 200 fly, 4:43.3 in the 500 free and 1:56.6 in the 200 IM.
 
Joseph Grese
Showed great improvement during his senior year … will compete in the shorter freestyle events for the Billikens, along with the breaststroke and IM events … best times are 21.5 in the 50 free, 59.8 in the 100 breast, 2:08.7 in the 200 breast and 4:09.0 in the 400 IM.
 
Danny Hinkle
Best events appear to be the longer freestyle races … best times are 4:46.00 in the 500 free, 9:57.3 in the 1000 free and 16:45.6 in the 1650 free.
 
Anthony Kirchner
Primarily swims the breaststroke and IM events … best times are 1:58.0 in the 200 IM, 4:18.0 in the 400 IM and 1:00.7 in the 100 breast.
 
Jack Locke
Considered a late bloomer who will help SLU in the distance freestyle events … best times are 4:46.7 in the 500 free, 9:56 in the 1000 free and 16:41.5 in the 1650 free.
 
David Ruetten
Will try to provide depth in the breaststroke events … best times are 1:01.7 in the 100 breast and 2:14.0 in the 200 breast … also could swim the shorter freestyle events and the 200 IM.
 
Henry Siegelman
Will try to add depth in the breaststroke events … best times are 1:00.1 in the 100 breast and 2:17.4 in the 200 breast … also can swim some of the shorter freestyle events.
 
Jonathan Wilson
Will try to add depth in the sprint freestyle and breaststroke events … best times are 51.7 in the 100 free and 1:02.5 in the 100 breast.