EDWARDSVILLE - Autumn Grinter, one of three standout triplet sisters who had successful careers for Edwardsville High, recently signed a letter of intent to attend Eastern Illinois University in Charleston in the fall in a ceremony held at the high school. Autumn is the iCAN Clinic Female Athlete of the Month for Edwardsville High School. Autumn is also the sister of Division I Tennessee standout swimmer Bailey Grinter.
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Grinter, along with her sisters Isabella and Savannah, helped the Tigers enjoy much success in the pool this past season, and chose the Panthers for very practical reasons. Autumn has been a standout for not only the high school team for four years, but the Edwardsville Breakers since she was a young girl.
"Well, I like how it was a (Division)-I school," Grinter said in an interview that followed the ceremony, "and how it's only two hours away."
Although the Panthers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern in in the Summit League for women's swimming, and the school's campus was a big factor in Grinter's decision.
"Well, I just liked it," Grinter said, "and I liked the campus when I went down there, I liked the sites, and the swim team was very nice."
Grinter is planning on majoring in business at Eastern, but hasn't yet decided on what kind of business she'll be involved in after graduation. As far as other schools she considered, it was a very simple choice.
"There was a lot," Grinter said, "but after i went there, I just wanted to go to Eastern, so it wasn't really a decision."
Tigers coach Christian Rhoten believes that Grinter will bring much to the table for the Panthers.
"Well, I know her times; she's going to be impacting the team across the board right away," Rhoten said. "I've seen her times, and she's going to be kind of in the top echelon right away; she'll be on relays, I think, and she's going to be a really good force for them in sprint freestyle, butterfly, she can do a decent 100-(yard) backstroke, so she's versatile, and I think she's going to make an impact right away."
Grinter will also bring a very solid work ethic, both in and out of the pool.
"In the classroom, she's always been a hard worker," Rhoten said, "she's a standout academically, so she'll be bolstering their GPA, which is going to be awesome for them. She's a great hard worker, she'll bring a lot of intensity to practice, and all around, I think she's going to be a great pickup for them."
Rhoten believes that Grinter will be a very solid D-I swimmer.
"Anytime you can swim at the Division-I level in college, I swam at Eastern when I was there," Rhoten said, "I love the school, I always have. I think it's a great program, and I think she'll have a lot of success there."
"I would say just her ability to come up in relays when we really needed her to," Rhoten continued. "She performed on relays, really tight ones when we needed one at sectionals and state, things like that. She's come through really well on relays, and stepped up at a time when we needed her to step up. So having that quality, it's invaluable as a coach."
As far as goals for her time with the Panthers, Grinter knows what she wants to achieve.
"I want to go best times and everything," Grinter said. "And really train as hard as I can to finish off swimming."
Rhoten believes that Grinter will do very well for the Panthers, and looks forward to her continued success.
"I think she'll just continue her success," Rhoten said, "have a new coach, a new environment, kind of up the level of her athletics when she goes to college. I think she's going to do great."
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