UE Swimming and Diving strong in opener to SIU Aces head to Butler Quad Meet on Sunday

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.

Evansville is in Fishers, Ind. tomorrow for the Butler Quad Meet.  It is set to begin at 12 p.m. ET at Fishers High School.

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