Swimming and diving put up a tough fight against Missouri State this afternoon, but ultimately fell in the last meet of the fall schedule.
The final score for the women was Missouri State- 137, Evansville- 106, while the men were Missouri State- 152, Evansville- 89.
“Missouri State has been at the top of our conferences for both teams for a long time,” said head coach Brent Noble. “To go where we want to go, we’ve got to keep measuring ourselves against them and closing the gap. We made progress tonight. We swam better than a UE team has in recent memory, and we will keep working to consistently close the gap that’s left. I’m happy where we are now and the way we approached the meet, but not satisfied.”
The women began the day with a win in the 200 Medley Relay. Senior Sam Gowdy, junior Alaina Sylvester, senior Kristen Myers, and junior Emma Hennessy clocked a 1:47.10 to take the event.
Freshman Pearl Muenstermann took the first individual win with a 24.98 finish in the 50 freestyle. Hennessy took a close 2nd with a 24.99, and senior Kaylee Gubricky placed 3rd with a 25.25.
Sophomore Andrea Ramis tacked on another victory for the women with a 1st place finish in the 200 IM with a final time of 2:13.96. Junior Ashton Adams and freshman Emily Vasquez followed for the sweep in 2nd and 3rd at 2:15.17 and 2:15.26 respectively.
A number of runner-up finishes were accomplished as well. Freshman Nicolette Wickes clocked a 11:05.18 in the 1000 freestyle, while senior Megan Schremp took 3rd at 11:10.86.
Junior Kristy Kupfer placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle with a final time of 1:56.40, followed by senior Madi Jones with a 1:57.65. Myers followed in the 100 butterfly to clock a 57.74 for the runner-up spot.
Freshman Jessie Steele took 2nd place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.72. Jones recorded a 55.22 for another 3rd place finish. Junior Alaina Sylvester took the final top 3 finish for the women with a 2nd place time of 1:08.69 in the 100 breaststroke.
The men were able to hold their own and take some victories as well. Junior Jared Sutphin took the top spot in the 100 freestyle with a 47.26, over a second faster than the runner up.
Freshman Ee Tan won the 500 freestyle with a 4:45.58. Fellow freshman David Killian clocked a 4:51.70 for 3rd. Additionally, sophomore Eli James took the 100 breaststroke for the Aces with a final time of 59.32.
Freshman Oskar Menkhaus took the first 2nd place finish of the day with a 9:55.78 finish in the 1000 freestyle. Junior Brandt Hudson was also a runner up in the 200 freestyle with a final time of 1:44.80.
Senior Matt Duke and James took 2nd and 3rd in the 50 freestyle with times of 21.34 and 21.76 respectively. Sophomore Credence Pattinson took the final 2nd place finish of the day in the 100 backstroke, his time a 51.61. Hudson’s 53.71 was good for 3rd place.
On the diving side, freshman Maggie Franz led the women with a 3rd place finish on both boards, with 220.12 points on 3-Meter and 225.82 on 1-Meter. Senior Miguel Marcano took 2nd on both boards with 253.42 points and 236.77 points respectively.
Swimming will be back in action in the new year with a road competition at Eastern Illinois on January 9th.
