The Eastern Michigan University swimming teams ended the regular season competing at Ohio State University in the Ohio State Winter Invite Feb. 8-9.
Swimmers from Pennsylvania State University, Wright State University and the University at Buffalo also participated in the men’s events at the invitational.
Ball State University, the University of Akron, the University of Toledo and Penn State brought its women’s teams to compete in the women’s events. There were no points scored in this invitational.
The men’s team sent ten swimmers to Columbus.
On the first day of competition, Dan Proctor recorded the highest finish for the Eagles with a second place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke to Harrison Grimm of Penn State by a margin of .15 seconds. Proctor also claimed seventh in the 400-Individual Medley.
Nate Schingoethe placed third in the 100-yard backstroke. Erik Brinkhoff recorded a fourth place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.55 and placed fifth in the 100-yard backstroke.
On the second day, the men’s squad got a pair of runner-up finishes. Schingoethe placed second in the 200-yard backstroke to Ohio State’s Dominic Pecze by almost three seconds. Axel Schmitter-Sanchez claimed second in the 200-butterfly to Penn State’s Philip Kang. Brinkhoff finished third in the 50-freestyle.
“I was happy with the way they performed,” EMU head coach Peter Linn said. “We had some good swims.”
Over on the women’s side, the Eagles had only three swimmers in Columbus. Emily Wimmer scored the highest finish for EMU with a second place in the 100-breaststroke with Penn State’s Sarah Somers winning with a margin of .19 seconds.
Sarah Cameron placed third in the same event and took tenth in the 100-yard freestyle. Abigail Aumiller finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke and placed fourth in the preliminary event of the 500-freestyle.
On the second day, Aumiller placed third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:05.29, losing to Penn State’s Jenna Bickel and Brynja Winnan. Cameron and Wimmer finished 2-3 respectively in the 200-breaststroke to Somers. Cameron got fourth in the 200-IM with a time of 2:12.11.
“We were just trying to give [the swimmers] the opportunity they didn’t have in the regular season,” Linn said.
The men’s team will take a break finish the season at the University of Michigan for the Michigan First Chance Meet Feb. 22-23 with Purdue University.
The women’s squad will prepare for the Mid-American Conference championship meet at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio Feb. 27-Mar. 1.
