The Eastern Michigan University women’s and men’s swim and dive teams left the Alumni Arena Natatorium in Amherst, N.Y., Saturday with dual-meet victories.
The women’s team made history by completing their first-ever undefeated season in dual meets by knocking off the University of Buffalo Bulls 169-131, while the men squeaked by with 151.5-148.5.
“I’ve always known this team had [greatness] in them,” women’s senior co-captain Wesley Blassneck said. “[The team] just had to believe it for themselves. I love my team and all we’ve accomplished together. At the end of the day, it is simply one team, one dream.”
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, senior Briana Emig and freshman Audra Burtch finished first and second with times of 10 minutes, 9.68 seconds and 10:13.51, respectively.
Emig and Burtch also placed first and second, respectively, in the 500-yard freestyle with times of 4:58.21 and 5:02.64.
“It was great because with Briana being a senior, there is someone else [Audra Burtch] who can step up [next season],” EMU men’s and women’s coach Peter Linn said.
Sophomore Sara Ghaffari and senior co-captain Helena Tolic finished first and second in the 100-yard backstroke with times of 59.02 and 59.33, respectively.
Senior Lauren Kalinosky placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.49.
In the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Jessie Godlewski and junior Jackie Swartz finished first and second with 2:02.60 and 2:05.99, respectively.
Godlewski and Tolic placed first and second in the 200-yard backstroke with times of 2:05.73 and 2:06.83, respectively.
In the 1-meter dive, the Eagles went first, second and third as senior Kelly Hendricks, sophomore Lauren Dark and redshirt junior Danielle Hulvey finished with scores of 265.88, 261.23 and 258.75, respectively.
In the 3-meter dive, Dark placed first with a score of 267.98.
On the men’s side, freshman Andrew Henry and sophomore Brian Moore placed first and second in the 200-yard freestyle with times of 1:40.26 and 1:40.33, respectively.
Senior co-captain Jacob Hanson placed first in three events: the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes and the 200-yard individual medley with times of 48.57, 1:47.06 and 1:50.63, respectively.
In the 200-yard butterfly, freshman Krzysztof Gilski touched the wall first in 1:49.27.
Senior Mike Swain placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:02.89.
Henry and Gilski finished first and second in the 500-yard freestyle with times of 4:37.33 and 4:37.47, respectively.
Henry’s time is his best of the year in the dual meets.
In the 1-meter dive, seniors Jeffrey Craig and Andrew Saunders placed first and second with scores of 302.18 and 284.70, respectively.
The places were reversed in the 3-meter dive as Saunders won and Craig finished second with scores of 375.68 and 371.70, respectively.
As far as the upcoming Mid-American Conference Championship, Linn has yet to decide how the lineup is going to look.
“We are still trying to figure out who will be going to our conference meet and obviously there are some things we want to fix,” Linn said. “It is not one thing we have to do, but it is more individual to see what needs to be improved on over the next five weeks.”
Meet Notes:
With the win, the EMU women finished the dual-meet season at 7-0 and 5-0 in the MAC.
The EMU men have now won 62 straight dual meets in MAC play and move to 4-2 and 2-0 in the conference.
Looking Ahead:
The men are back in the pool Feb. 2 for their home finale against the Miami University of Ohio RedHawks at the Jones Natatorium. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
The women will take a two-week break before traveling to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State Winter Invitational Feb. 9 and 10. Meet time is TBA.
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