Over the weekend, three division 1 mid-major teams met at Eastern Illinois University for the fastest meet in the history of the Ray Padovan Pool. A total of 17 swims, by swimmers from all three teams, touched the wall under pool record times throughout the saturday afternoon swim meet. The Eastern Illinois Panthers hosted the IUPUI Jaguars and that the UIC Flames.
The pool was named after the Eastern Illinois Head Coach of 42 years, Ray Padovan, in 2008. Padovan was the first swimmer to break 48 seconds in the 100 yard freestyle, and at one time, held three NCAA records in the freestyle events. With so many records broken during this meet, it was great to have Ray Padovan at the meet as the starter.
The IUPUI women’s team fought to the end, battling against UIC all the way to the final relay. The Jaguar women topped the Flames 105-99 as well as the hosts, Eastern Illinois, 144-60. The UIC Flames, walked away with a victory against EIU, however, beating the panthers 139 to 65.
On the men’s side, the IUPUI Jaguars were down by two points mid way through to meet, but rallied in the back half, winning the final 5 events. The Jaguars defeated the UIC Flames, 121-83, and Eastern Illinois, 151-53. The UIC men’s team also topped the EIU men, 138-65.
THE WOMEN”S MEET
The Jaguars opened up the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. The team of Lexi Laird, Mary Klueh, Maddie Bradford, and Brittani Grove won the event, posting a time of 1:48.13. UIC touched in second at 1:48.13, followed by EIU at 1:48.88.
Margret Barber gave the Jaguars their first individual win with a 10:34.53 in the 1000 freestyle. Her teammate, Vanessa Roop, was second at 10:56.78, and Fallyn Schwake, from Eastern Illinois, was third at 11:09.97.
Melanie Waszak won the first event for UIC with a 1:56.80 in the 200 freestyle. IUPUI’s Maddie Bradford was second at 1:58.34 and Eastern’s Kaylee Morris was third at 1:58.34.
UIC continued to win the next three events after Waszak’s 200 freestyle. Monica Pinkus swam to a 24.33 to win the 50 freestyle. IUPUI’s Madison Taylor was second at 24.80 and Katherine Hare of UIC was third at 25.28.
Veronica Gibson won the 400 IM for the Flames, posting a time of 4:36.48. IUPUI’s Natalie Trout was second with a time of 4:41.65 and Eastern’s Carolyn Belford was third with a time of 4:54.45.
UIC’s Danel Voorhees won the 100 butterfly at 58.18. Eastern’s Kate Paige was second at 59.20 and Kelsey Millin from UIC was third at 1:00.07.
Madison Taylor won the 100 freestyle for the Jaguars with a time of 54.28. UIC’s Katherine Hare was second at 54.73 and IUPUI’s Brittani Grove was third at 54.76.
IUPUI went on the next streak, winning the next few events. Lexi Laird won the 100 backstroke in 58.14, ahead of UIC’s Anne Jacobsen at 59.89 and IUPUI’s Sarah Rozow at 1:00.41.
Marget Barber won her second event of the meet for the Jags, swimming to a 5:10.18 in the 500 freestyle. UIC’s Veronica Gibson was second at 5:13.55 and her teammate, Melanie Waszak, was third at 5:16.21.
Monica Pinkus from UIC won her second event of the meet, with a 1:04.46 in the 100 breaststroke. Mary Klueh was second for the Jaguars at 1:08.52 and Janis McGee was third for Eastern Illinois at 1:09.59.
The meet between UIC and IUPUI came down to the final 400 freestyle relay. The IUPUI relay team of Madison Taylor, Lexi Laird, Margret Barber, and Brittani Grove out-touched UIC’s A-relay by .04, with a winning time of 3:36.89. UIC finished in second place with a 3:36.93 and Eastern Illinois was third in 3:40.67.
THE MEN’S MEET
The Jaguars started the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. The team of Tony Carroll, Landan Mintch, Adam Ferguson, and Josh Garmon won the relay with a time of 1:35.56. UIC’s relay was second in 1:36.60 and Eastern Illinois finished third with a time of 1:38.48.
UIC’s Ryuta Kuwahara won the 100 freestyle with a time of 9:49.52 in a very close race with Eastern’s Harris Thompson, who finished second at 9:49.89. UIC’s Christian Grobe was third at 10:00.96.
Tony Carroll led the Jaguars to a 1-2 finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:43.35. His teammate, Rich Sunkel came in just behind him at 1:43.84. UIC’s Kei Ishimaru finished third with a time of 1:45.55.
Mike Reed from UIC won the 50 freestyle, breaking 21 seconds to win with a 20.97. IUPUI’s teammates Adam Ferguson and Lennart Kuester tied for second place at 21.87.
Ramiro Almaraz won the next event for the Flames, swimming to a 4:11.34 in the 400 IM. Alex Rhoda from IUPUI was second at 4:18.87 and UIC’s Ryota Kuwahara came in third at 4:19.35. At this point in the meet, UIC was leading IUPUI by two points, and pool came alive as the scores was announced.
UIC won their final event of the evening, with Kei Ishimaru‘s 50.77 in the 100 butterfly. Daniel Heringer was second with a time of 51.39 and his teammate, John Kamphius, was third with a time of 53.56.
The Jaguars rallied at the end of the meet to win the final 5 events. Lennart Kuester started the rally with a win in the 100 freestyle. He posted a 47.22, touching ahead of UIC’s Vincent Errichiello, who finished second at 47.89. IUPUI’s Jared Allen was third with a time of 48.56.
Tony Carroll picked up his second individual win for the Jaguars, swimming a 52.04 to win the 100 backstroke. Sebastian Ostrowski finished second for UIC at 52.79 and Brogan O’Doherty added a third place finish for Eastern Illinois at 53.69.
Rich Sunkel won the third event in a row for the Jaguars, touching the wall at 4:44.33 to win the 500 freestyle. Ryota Kuwahara finished second at 4:46.41 and his teammate Christian Grobe was third at 4:51.45.
Following the 500 freestyle, Adam Ferguson led the Jaguars to a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 breaststroke. Ferguson won with a time of 59.32 and his teammate, Landan Mintch finished just behind at 59.44. Their teammate, Ben Weingart, won the first heat with a time of 1:00.40, which was enough to sneak in for a third place overall finish. The 1-2-3 finish in the 100 breaststroke gave the Jaguars a lot of momentum leading into the 400 freestyle relay.
The final relay came down to .03 seconds between the first and second place finishers. The IUPUI relay team of Lennart Kuester, Rich Sunkel, Josh Garmon, and Jared Allen touched out UIC’s A-Relay to win the event with a time of 3:09.02. UIC touched the wall at 3:09.05 and Eastern finished third with a 3:17.52.
Way to go, Tony C.!