CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Following a three-week break, Eastern Illinois men's and women's swimming returns to action on Friday (Nov. 7) as EIU will host Ball State in the Panthers' home opener at 6 p.m. at Ray Padovan Pool.
The Panther men enter the meet at 0-1 overall while the Eastern women sport an 0-2 mark in the early season. Friday's meet at EIU will be the season-opener for the BSU men, while the Cardinal women will come to Charleston at 0-2 on the year.
QUOTING COACH MICHALSKI
• In her first season as skipper of the Panthers, Jacqueline Michalski joined the EIU program this past August.
"I'm thrilled to be hosting Ball State this Friday evening for our first home meet of the season," said Michalski. "The team is excited to have the home pool advantage and being able to put their hard work to the test. Since our last dual meet, we have focused on the fundimentals and race strategies.
"The outpouring of support from our friends and family of EIU Swimming has just been great," she added. "I'm looking forward to seeing many of them at our first home meet."
SUMMIT LEAGUE TOP 25 MARKS
• Following the Panthers' season opener at IUPUI, in addition to the women's action versus Butler, EIU sports 40 Top 25 mark in the most up-to-date Summit League times.
• The men alone have 27 marks ranked in the Summit League, as Brogan O'Doherty leads the way with the fifth fastest time in the 100-Back, followed by Steve Fishman and Harris Thompson each earning sixth place tallies in the 200 and 500-Free, respectively.
• The women, meanwhile, are led by Kaylee Morris' tie for the ninth fastest time in the 50-Free, while Amy Smith also has a Top 10 mark in the 100-Back at ninth place.
RECAPPING THE SEASON-OPENERS AT IUPUI & VERSUS BUTLER
• EIU m/w swimming opened the 2014-15 season back on Oct. 17, 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. Unfortunately 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.
TWO LONE SENIORS
• Nikki Peck (back) and Katie VanHootegem (free) are the lone Panther seniors this season, as the EIU men have four juniors, six sophomores and nine newcomers. The women also add seven juniors, five sophomores and six freshman to their roster.
RETURNING RECORD HOLDERS
• The EIU men return seven swimmers who earned Panther Top 10 marks last season -- Brock Bales (100-Breast), Conner Conroy (200-Fly), Brogan O'Doherty (100 & 200-Back), Jake Roberts (500-Free), Kyle Ruckert (1000-Free), Harris Thompson (500-Free, 1000-Free), and Shane Witzki (50-Free). Thompson currently owns the school's top mark in the 1000-Free.
• The Panther women, meanwhile, sport five competitors who secured EIU Top 10 records -- Paige Eavenson (200-Fly), Beth Houghton (1650-Free & 400-IM)), Kaylee Morris (50, 100 & 200-Free), Fallyn Schwake (1000 & 1650-Free), and Joann Wakefield (200-IM). Morris owns the top EIU time in the 50 & 100-Free.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
• Following Friday's home opener, the Panthers will continue to swim at the Padovan Pool as Eastern will host Valparaiso in the first of two matchups this season. First splash versus the Crusaders is set for 11 a.m. next Saturday (Nov. 15).
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
