The University of Evansville Swimming And Diving Teams Partook In Their First Road Competition Of The Season On Sunday At The Butler Quad Meet
The women took home wins over Butler and Valparaiso, while the men scored a victory over Valpo as well.
“I was happy with the meet we had,” said head coach Rickey Perkins. “I saw some great things and some things we can work on. But overall the team spirit was nice. The racing was great, we had some great races there. Brandt in the 200 freestyle and a great finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay. The girls were really, really good. Kristen Myers was great in the 200 fly, I know she was really tired. But I was impressed with the way they raced.”
Senior Danielle Freeman led the way for the women’s swim squad. She started the afternoon with a 2ndplace finish in the 50 freestyle with a 24.00 finish. She was followed by teammates sophomore Emma Hennessy and junior Sam Gowdy with 13th and 16th place finishes respectively. Additionally, Freeman took the win in the 100 freestyle with a final time of 52.76. Freshman Sarah Alexander came next for the Aces in 15th with a 59.00, followed by senior Jessi Hildebrand with a 59. 51.
Freshman Kara Steward finished strong in the 200 butterfly, taking 3rd place with a final time of 2:11.75. Junior Kristen Myers then came in 8th, clocking in a 2:14.77.
Other notable performances came from sophomore Alaina Sylvester with a 2:29.16 finish in the 200 breaststroke for 5th place, a 7th place finish in the 1000 freestyle by freshman Emily Lane with a 11:10.38, and a 2:11.04 performance in the 200 backstroke by Gowdy, good for 7th place as well. Additionally, the Aces held the middle of the pack in the 200 freestyle. Sophomore Kristy Kupfer, Myers, and junior Madi Jones took 7th, 8th, and 9th.
The men had a successful day as well. Sophomore Brandt Hudson took the win for the Evansville in the 200 freestyle. He was able to edge out Xavier’s Alex Wolfred by a tenth of a second, clocking in a 1:44.64. Freshman Austin Smith came next with a 1:46.39 for 6th place, followed by 11th place sophomore Zack Sagan with 1:51.31.
Freshman Pete Lingo snagged a 2nd place finish in the 1000 freestyle, his time of 9:56.93 less than a second away from 1st. Sophomore Paul Cozzens earned points for Evansville with a 4:14.92 finish in the 400 IM, good for 3rd place. Junior Matt Duke took a 3rd place finish as well, with a 21.85 time in the 50 freestyle.
The men’s 400 Freestyle Relay ended the day with a 3rd place finish. Junior Jared Sutphin, Smith, freshman Credence Pattinson, and Hudson teamed up to clock in a 3:13.31.
The Aces diving squad shone brightest of all. Defending MVC 1-Meter champion Courtney Coverdale took the title in both 1-Meter and 3-Meter with scores of 242.50 and 262.55 respectively. Freshman Natalie Gerard followed suit with a 3rd place finishing 191.25 in 1-Meter and 202.65 in her first collegiate 3-Meter competition.
Junior Miguel Marcano and senior Cory Barnes teamed up to take the sweep of both boards. Marcano took the win on 1-Meter with 267.70, a personal best, with Barnes taking 2nd with a 243.70. On 3-Meter, Marcano scored 271.55 for another win, with Barnes continuing his 2nd place streak with 245.05 points.
