Final Results (PDF) |
Photo Gallery (
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men's and women's swimming splashed past visiting Valparaiso to earn respective dual victories of 137-122 and 162-95 on Saturday (Nov. 15) afternoon at Padovan Pool. The Panthers combined for 14 first place finishes, plus numerous runner-up marks in the sweep.
The victories help the EIU guys and ladies improve to 1-2 and 1-3 on the early-season, while the Crusaders of Valpo drop to 1-8 and 2-8, respectively.
"It was wonderful to see the team come together today for our first win of the season for both teams," said first year head coach
Jacqueline Michalski. "It was my privilege to have my first win as a college coach be with such a great group of student-athletes. I was glad to see all the hard work these athletes have been putting in finally pay off today. I hope we can carry this momentum forward and have some good swims at the House of Champions meet next week."
Both Panther squads got things going with first place finishes by both the 400-Medley units. The women would follow with the relay sweep as they also touched first in the 200-Free team race.
Five different male swimmers followed with firsts as
Jake Roberts won his 1000 Free (10:18.03), Steven Fishman won both the 200-Free (1:45.25) and 200-IM (2:00.06) races, and
Brogan O'Doherty,
Matt Jacobs and
Harris Thompson each captured respective firsts in the 100-Back (52.42), 100-Breast (1:01.25) and 500-Free (4:54.93).
For the women, six different swimmers garnered first place honors, as
Kaylee Morris led with the way with wins in both the 50-Free (24.61) and 100-Free (53.74), followed by
Nikki Peck winning the 200-Free (2:03.92),
Amy Smith taking the 100-Back (1:01.17), and
Kelsey Ferguson the 100-Breast (1:10.31), as
Niki Beringer and Dani DiMatteo also out-paced their opponents in their respective first place marks in the 200-Back (2:18.17) and 100-Fly (1:02.46).
The guys also earned seven second places, first in the 200-Free Relay, while Steve Witzki was runner-up in the 50-Free,
Kyle Ruckert in the 1000-Free,
Dylan Ferguson in 200-IM, and Roberts, Jacobs and Thompson all scored second in their 500-Free, 200-Breast and 200-Free races, respectively.
The ladies followed suit as
Fallyn Schwake took second in the 1000-Free,
Beth Houghton in the 200-Free, and
Carolyn Belford in 200-Fly. Beringer, Peck, Smith and Ferguson also earned respective second place spots in their 100-Back, 200-Back, 500-Free, and 200-IM races.
"The meet was a close one on the men's side," added Michalski, "and having Steven and Dylan go one-two in the 200-IM sealed our victory for the men's team. Nicki Peck won the 200-Free to improve her time from the last meet. Freshman Dani DiMatteo really stepped it up today and won the 100-Fly and it was great to see
Niki Beringer,
Nikki Peck and
Paige Eavenson go one-two-three in the 200-Back."
Both Panther squads will now prepare for the upcoming three-day House of Champions Meet, which will take place in Indianapolis on Nov. 21-23 and hosted by IUPUI.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
