The Southern Illinois men and women captured a win over Evansville on Saturday. The Saluki men won 192-114, while the women claimed a 210-84 victory. The meet was set with a unique format, with mixed relays and stroke relays.
Evansville:
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A unique format took place on Saturday morning as the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams opened up the season against Southern Illinois at Wyttenbach Pool.
The teams did a relays only event to begin the regular season. The Salukis took both victories, defeating the men by a 192-114 final while the SIU women earned a 210-84 win.
“I am very happy with the way the team performed. A relay meet was a different format and it made for a fun start to the season,” head coach Rickey Perkins said. “SIU is a great squad and we did well against them. Michaela Kent had a great start to the relay in the 100 back and our newcomers were also able to shine. Overall, we did well, but have a lot to work on. Tomorrow we have a meet at Butler and that will be a fun meet that we should do well at.”
Evansville’s top performance came in the mixed 200 yard medley relay, which featured both males and females in the event. Michaela Kent, Troy Burger, Dan O’Brien and Mackenzie Harris finished 1.65 seconds ahead of their nearest competition, recording a time of 1:43.88.
In the 100 fly relay, Dan O’Brien, Prescott Marcy and Matt Duke took second place, swimming a 2:38.83. Another male trio had a strong race as Troy Burger, Will Glasscock and Everett Plocek notched a second in the 100 breast relay. They posted a 3:00.31, just 0.61 off the win. Burger, Glasscock, Ethan O’Rourke and Reid Mobley combined to swim a 3:45.32 in the 400 IM relay as they came home in second place. The other runner-up effort came in the 200 free relay with Plocek, Matt Duke, Cameron Wickes and Matt Childress coming home in 1:28.06.
For the women, Michaela Kent, Taylor Davidson and Bridget Sheridan were runner-up in the 100 backstroke relay. Their time of 3:00.37 was less than two seconds behind the winning trio. Another second place finish came from Kayla Aitken, Charlotte Lechner, Amy Smith and Taylor Davidson. The group was second in the 400 IM relay with a final of 4:18.44.
Friday’s diving action saw junior Cory Barnes take the win in the 3-meter event. He topped the list with a final score of 251.17. Courtney Coverdale had a strong opener, taking second in both the 1 and 3-meter dives. Coverdale’s score in the 1-meter was 264.52 while her tally in the three meter was a 212.82.
Swimming news courtesy of Evansville Swimming & Diving.
Southern Illinois:
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After two weeks of inter-squad meets in preparation, the Saluki swimming and diving teams are set to open the regular season this weekend in a dual meet against Evansville.
Both SIU’s men’s and women’s teams have opened the regular season against Evansville every year for since 2012. In that time, the Salukis have gone undefeated against Evansville in the season-opening swim.
“I want to see our teams come out and be engaged in what’s happening in the pool and be in tune with not only taking care of their own business, but helping somebody out who might be struggling with theirs,” head coach Rick Walker said.
This year’s teams return experience and success, with four 2015 conference champions on the men’s side and seven for the women. Fifteen newcomers for the Salukis, eight on the men’s side and seven for the women, will give SIU more depth going into the season.
“Our new kids are figuring out that the difference between high school and college is that in college you have to be fast all the time. I think they’re learning how to do that and are doing a good job,” Walker said. “Our returners, on the other hand, are experienced in this, and are just shaking off the cobwebs and trying to get going again.”
This weekend’s competition will begin this afternoon at 4 p.m. with the diving portion of the meet. The swimming portion of the meet will begin on Saturday at 11 a.m., and will feature only relays, such as the 400 and 200 freestyle relays.
Last year, SIU was strong in both categories, diving and relays, coming away with three diving conference titles (Kaixuan ‘Sherry’ Zhang– 1-meter and 3-meter dives; Kegan Skelton – 1-meter dive) and two relays conference titles (women’s 800 and 400 freestyle relays).
The focus this season, however, is finding areas where the Salukis can improve.
“We’re looking at our weak spots, because the areas where we’re strong, we’re still strong,” Walker said. “What we want is to be able to plug the hole in the dam and make it stop leaking. We have some areas where we’re already strong, but we just want to be stronger.”
Last season, SIU topped Evansville in the opening meet, winning 20 of 26 events. The Saluki women came away with 136 points compared to Evansville’s 107, and them men topped Evansville, 181-59.
Following this weekend’s meet, the Salukis will turn their attention to Missouri State, where they will compete Oct. 10.
Swimming news courtesy of Southern Illinois Swimming & Diving.