Final Results (PDF
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INDIANAPOLIS – Eastern Illinois men's and women's swimming opened the 2014-15 season on Friday (Oct. 17) evening as the Panthers traveled to Indianapolis to face the host IUPUI Jaguars in a dual, while the EIU ladies also took on local foe Butler.
"I think today's meet went well," said first year head coach
Jacqueline Michalski.  "As a whole, I was very proud of the team and how they approached their races. Many of the athletes had to work outside their comfort zone and push through the discomfort of unfamiliar events. Overall, it's been a long seven weeks of training. It was nice to finally see the team get in the pool and compete.
"It was overwhelming to see the amount of Panther pride and support we had in the stands tonight," she added.
Unfortunately for Eastern both squads came up just short in their respective openers, as the men and women fell to fellow Summit League rival Jags via scores of 142-63 and 155-48, and the Panther women also lost, 126-77, to the BU Bulldogs.
Harris Thompson paced all swimmers on the day as the sophomore picked up a pair of wins as he touched the wall first in both the 200-Fly and 500-Free, with respective times of 2:02.28 and 4:45.47.
Thompson also swam the second leg in the second place 400-Free Relay (3:18.63), joining freshman
Steve Fishman, junior
Jake Roberts and classmate
Shane Witzki.
Fishman additionally placed second in his 200-Free race as the newcomer posted a time of 1:43.11.
For the women, juniors
Kaylee Morris and
Kelsey Ferguson each picked up second place marks in their respective 50-Free (24.84) and 200-Breast events (2:34.54).
Those two also joined sophomore
Paige Eavenson and newcomer
Amy Smith to nab runner-up honors in the 400-Medley Relay with a time of 4:08.47.
"It was really good to see the hard work paying off," Michalski said. Â "We had many athletes set personal bests at today's meet -- Amy Smith in her 100 & 200-Back, Matt Jacobs in his 200-Breast, and Patrick Wood in his 200-Fly. Harris Thompson also gave us a great thrill in his come from behind victories in both his wins."Many of the returning swimmers may not have posted their best times from last season, but they do give us a good benchmark for this point in the season," she added.Both Panther squads will now prepare for their home opening dual meet versus the Ball State Cardinals on Friday, Nov. 7.
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... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
