Men’s Swimming/Diving

0
The teams split the meet: the women took the victory over the Billikens with a score of 151-88, while the men came up just short at 121-102.

The senior class of 2017 was honored prior to the start of the competition. The group includes Matt Childress, Andrew Cotton, Taylor Davidson, Michaela Kent, Everett Plocek, and Nick Riffel.

“I am happy with the way we competed today,” said head coach Rickey Perkins. “Saint Louis is a very good team, and it’s been a long time since the women beat them. And for the men to be so close is incredible. We got out-touched in some close races but we raced very well.”

Junior Danielle Freeman led the Aces with a pair of wins in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, her times 24.37 and 53.59 respectively. She won both races by nearly a full second each.

Sophomore Kristen Myers showed dominance in her individual events as well. She won the 200 IM with a 2:12.15, and touched in at 58.52 for a second win in the 100 butterfly.

Fellow sophomore Madi Jones earned points for the Aces with a win in the 200 freestyle. She led the pack with a 1:55.92, while freshman Kristy Kupfer followed in second with a 1:58.80. Jones additionally followed Freeman for a second place finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.17.

Senior Michaela Kent took the final individual win for the women in the 100 backstroke. She clocked in at 57.84, while fellow senior Taylor Davidson took third at 59.39.

The women’s relays showed strength as well. The team of Kent, freshmen Alaina Sylvester and Emma Hennessy, and Freeman took a 1:07.17 win in the 200 Medley Relay, while Davidson, sophomore Amy Smith, freshman Shaina Weisberg, and sophomore Bridget Sheridan out-touched the SLU team for second place.

Hennessy, Jones, sophomore Sam Gowdy, and Kent took the 200 Freestyle Relay in a time of 1:38.45 to finish the day for the women’s squad.

The men’s team had a strong start to the day with a win in the 200 Medley Relay. Junior Dan O’Brien, senior Everett Plocek, junior Prescott Marcy, and senior Matt Childress touched in at 1:36.23, a slim margin from the Billiken relay’s 1:36.3.

Plocek took an individual victory for the men in the 100 breaststroke, narrowly defeating Saint Louis swimmer TJ Decker’s 58.57 with a 58.55.

Plocek took second in the 50 freestyle with a 22.17. Sophomore Matt Duke took the win at a 21.83, and Childress earned the sweep with 22.26.

Freshman Brandt Hudson took second places across the board today. He clocked in at 1:44.10 in the 200 freestyle and 4:48.26 in the 500 freestyle. O’Brien rounded the day out with yet another runner up finish with a 52.90 100 backstroke.

Freshman Paul Cozzens scored a second place finish in the 200 IM, touching just short of the winning time with a 1:56.93. Sophomore Jared Sutphin took another close second as well, with a 48.28 in the 100 freestyle.

The men ended the day the same as they began with a win in the 200 Freestyle Relay. O’Brien, Hudson, Duke, and Sutphin won handily with a 1:27.49.

The Aces had a successful day on the boards as well. Junior Courtney Coverdale took the win on 3-Meter with a score of 263.17. Freshman Alyssa Vonder Haar took third with 153.97. Coverdale and Vonder Haar came back on 1-Meter with 281.85 and 212.70 for first and second respectively. Junior Kasey Rein scored 174.67 for third place to earn the sweep.

Miguel Marcano took both boards for the men, with 212.55 on 3-Meter and 195.07 on 1-Meter.

The Aces return to action with split meets next weekend. The women travel to Illinois State Friday evening to take on the Redbirds, while the men venture north in a matchup at Ball State on Saturday.