After a pair of first place finishes in the 400-yard medley relay to begin their dual meet against Valparaiso, the Eastern Illinois men’s & women’s swimming teams carried the momentum throughout the meet as they accumulated 15 first place finishes combined. The EIU men defeated Valparaiso 120.00-85.00. The EIU women came out victorious as well posting a score of 125.00-69.00.
The men’s 400-yard medley relay unit of Steve Fishman, Brandon Robbins, Stephen Truchon, and Jennings Soccorso got things going early for the Panthers as they finished with the top time in the event at 3:34.68. Truchon earned himself another first place finish, this time in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.01. Fishman nabbed top honors in the 200-yard backstroke, as he finished with a time of 1:55.41. Robbins continued the top time trend as his time of 2:14.60 in the 200-yard breaststroke just edged out teammate Matt Jacob’s time of 2:14.84. Truchon, Soccorso, and Fishman teamed up with Bryan McPherson as the quartet finished the 400-yard in first place at 3:13.26. Jake Roberts paced himself in the 1000-yard freestyle, and came away with a top result at 10:15.90. Alex Laleian rounded out the top performances for the EIU men with a top time in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:01.39.
Like the men, the EIU women started off the meet with a first place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Kelsey Ferguson, Joann Wakefield, Dani Dimatteo, and Kaylee teamed up for a time of 4:07.20, winning the event by over eight seconds. Ferguson carried that momentum into the 400-yard IM (4:48.19) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:31.98) as she finished with top marks in both events. Wakefield outswam the competition in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.24. Morris continued with her dominating performance to begin the season, as she earned a top time in the 100-yard freestyle at 53.44. Beth Houghton won the 200-yard butterfly as she finished at 2:21.71. Emily Stroud finished with the best time in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:16.39. The EIU women’s team capped their night off with a first place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay as Martee Grainger, Lauren Oostman, Dimatteo, and Morris completed the event in 3:43.39.
Coach Michalski was pleased with both the men’s & women’s efforts tonight saying, “The 400-yard medley was a tone setting event for the meet. Both of those were our fastest times so far this season which was really exciting to see. Winning 15 events is a great confidence booster. What is even more of a confidence booster, is winning the events while posting a season best time which happened in most of the events tonight.”
The EIU men’s & women’s swimming teams will look to carry their momentum from tonight’s pair of victories into the House of Champions Meet hosted by IUPUI on November 20-22.
