Both the men and women swimming and diving teams for Eastern Michigan University picked up wins at home against Denison University on Saturday, Oct. 22.
EMU’s men’s swimming and diving teams’ season commenced a week earlier than the women’s season as the men’s team lost to Northwestern University, 167-128, on Friday, Oct. 14. But the women’s swim and dive team kicked their season off with a win of 196-99 against Denison. The men followed up with a win against Denison University, topping them at 191-104.
Both the men and women meets started off with the 200-medley relay, where EMU’s relay teams finished in first place. For the women, senior Alexis Mitcheltree, sophomores Delaney Duncan, Dora Vrcic and Stephanie Johnston led by 4 seconds in the 200 relay; while sophomore Tosh Kawaguchi, freshman Matthew Tsenkov, junior Connor Johnson, and senior Erik Brinkhoff clocked in at 1:33.50 in lead.
Sophomore Nicole Swartz and junior Sarah Dombkowski turned in a 1-2 punch for the Eagles in the 1000 freestyle. Swartz finished first with a time of 10:16.15, while Dombkowski touched in second place with a time of 10:20.18.
In the 200 free, Mary Grace Van Allen finished with a time of 1:52.83, while Sierra Wagner clocked in third, leading the Eagles to two top-three finishes. Sophomore Jake Tyson picked up the win for the men’s team in the 200 freestyle, while junior Logan Burton earned second place.
In the 200 freestyle, the men swept the 100 back. Mid-American Conference swimmer of the week, Kawaguchi, won the event, clocking in at 50.35, while senior Cole Bateman and sophomore Ricky Perez finished second and third, leading the Eagles in the top-three as well.
For the men, Tsenkov touched in with a time of 58.82. Tsenkov bested the field in the 100 breaststroke.
Senior Kyle Lichtenberg also claimed the top spot in the 1000 freestyle at 9:42.66. In the 200 butterfly, freshman Parker Saladin, Marcin Rzyski, and freshman Alex Arrieta led EMU to another sweep.
The EMU women claimed first, second, and third in the backstroke events behind a balanced effort. In the 200 back, sophomore Erika Guenther led the way and Mitcheltree and Claire Young followed in second and third place. Kawaguchi, Bateman and Perez topped again in the 200 back, claiming the top three spots, which marked the EMU men’s third sweep of the meet.
The women later took the top four spots in yet another event. Johnston led the way, clocking in with a time of 23.75 in the 50 free, while Junior Chase Walker was right behind her, just edging out sophomore Michal Liberman. Van Allen also posted her second first-place finish of the day in the 100 free, with Wagner and Johnston touching in right behind her.
The Eagles recorded their third consecutive sweep of an event in the 200 back, where Guenther clocked in at 2:04.11. Mitcheltree's timed in second at 2:04.63, while freshman Casey Gavigan took third. The women also struck again in the 200, with Duncan claiming first and Worthley taking second.
Dombkowski and Vrcic closed out the individual events with wins, earning first-place in the 500 free and 200 individual medleys. Johnston, Wagner, Mitcheltree, and Walker teamed up in the 400 Free Relay, also taking first place.
Junior Allie Shereda also turned in a sweep, posting a score of 280.96 on the 3-meter before leading the way on the 1-meter with a score of 274.95 as junior Emily Tubbs and sophomore Gabriella Mace placed second and third on the 3-meter.
In the final events for the men, Johnson won a tight race in the 50 free, beating the second-place finisher by a one hundredth of a second. After Johnson's victory, Burton took first in 100 free, giving EMU its seventh consecutive win. Tsenkov and Bergmann later continued their domination of the breaststroke, finishing 1-2.
In the 500 free, Arrieta and Rzyski came in as top-three finishes, finishing first and third. The meet ended with Tyson and Perez closing out with the wins that sealed the men’s victory.
The women now are heading for Mid-American Conference against Ohio University, Oct. 29, while the men get two weeks off of competition until Nov. 12, where they will face Oakland University.
