Western Illinois swimming and diving set three pool records in Friday's (Nov. 6) meet against Valparaiso, as the Leatherneck men rolled to a 152-74 win while the women triumphed 138-69.
"What I saw tonight was just a continuation of what I have been seeing all season long," said Western Illinois head coach Greg Naumann. "We are seeing smarter and faster swimming, and more polished diving."
The quartet of Samir Almhiemid, JD Furr, Chris Neaveill and Tyler Neaveill sped to a time of 1:32.48 in the men's 200-medley relay, the first of three records Western Illinois would break in the meet. The Leathernecks swept the event, with John Hall, Chance McQuigg, Cameron Van De Velde and Seth Brady taking second in 1:38.60. Matt Abercrombie, Dan Melnick, Ryan Miller and Shawn Farrar swiped third in 1:41.27.
Hall set the next pool record, racing to a 1:48.13 time in the 200-free. Again, Western swept the event, with Nick Bonneville (1:49.66) taking second and Adric Sorensen (1:50.26) coming in third.
Melanie Pearson's 413.90 score in the 1-meter dive set the final pool record of the day. The Leathernecks swept all of the diving events, with Nathalie Castro's 281.95 score placing second in the women's 1-meter. Viktor Rusenas took first in both the 1-meter (433.75) and 3-meter (273.15), followed by Quetzal Gallagher's scores of 310.45 and 185.95, respectively.
"All four of our divers have made tremendous strides since our last meet in Champaign, and is noticeable in what they doing in practice, and what we saw tonight," Naumann said.
Western began the meet with the team of Lizzie Hollopeter, Sarah Rosenhauer, Natalie Cumbie and Marissa Purdum taking the women's 200-medley relay in 1:53.84. The quartet of Taylor Winkel, Andie Villez, Amy Borgstede and Amanda Schaefer came in second in 1:57.94.
Deven Ries (10:22.78) and Jerod Dyke (10:26.16) took the first two spots in the men's 1000-free. Dylon Rykosky (1:58.44) and Van De Velde (2:03.62) did the same in the 200-IM.
The Leathernecks went on to take the top three spots in the men's 100-fly. Almhiemid (52.39) took first, just out touching Van De Velde (52.68) and Rykosky (54.82).
Schaefer registered first-place performances with a time of 2:02.22 in the women's 200-free and 5:26.45 in the 500-free. Purdum then recorded her own top finish in the 50-free in 25.54, while Erica Hagen took first in both the 200-IM (2:17.66) and 100-breast (1:09.13). Western also received a first-place performance from Amy Borgstede (1:04.72) in the 100-fly.
Chris Neaveill won the 50-free with a time of 21.91. Western then took both events in the 100-free, with Hollopeter (56.48) scoring on the women's side and Tyler Neaveill (48.15) following on the men's.
Winkel (1:04.75) and Cumbie (1:06.77) finished in the top two spots in the women's 100-back. In the 200-free relay, the Leathernecks' squad of Rykosky, Farrar, Abercrombie and Tyler Neaveill took first in 1:28.90, while the quartet of Almhiemid, Nick Bonneville, Seth Brady and Hall came in second in 1:29.36.
Western Illinois also compiled second-place finishes by Hannah Fisher (11:29.15) in the 1000-free, McQuigg (55.61) in the 100-back, Bonneville (5:04.70) in the 500-free, Andie Villez (1:11.75) in the 100-breast and the team of Sarah Rosenhauer, Fisher, Villez and Winkel (1:49.66) in the 200-free relay.
The Leathernecks will next compete in the House of Champions meet in Indianapolis from Nov. 20-22.
Said Naumann: "I'm pretty sure that I can speak for the entire team, and coaching staff that we are very excited to see what is going to happen at IUPUI for the House of Champions meet when we give them a couple days of rest."
