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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The first-ever swim meet at the Deaconess Aquatic Center will go down in Evansville city history as an impressive one for the hometown University of Evansville swimming and diving teams, as the Purple Aces swept its triangular meet with the visiting Saint Louis University Billikens and University of Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans.
The UE men held off the visiting Billikens, 154-135, behind first-place showings in the final two events of the meet. Meanwhile, the UE women posted a 172-128 victory over SLU, while also notching a 153.50-135.50 victory over Little Rock.
“I thought we got a great effort all the way around today,” said UE swimming and diving head coach Stuart Wilson. “Everyone on both teams contributed to the team effort.
“I really want to thank our seniors for making the sacrifices and commitment to represent UE over the last four years. A new chapter in their life will be coming soon, and they will take their lifelong experiences in swimming to their new adventures.”
In UE’s “Senior Day” meet, senior Zeke Metz (Topeka, Kan./Seaman) helped the Purple Aces hold off the Billikens on the men’s side, as Metz won the men’s 200-yard IM event, the second-to-last event of the day, in a time of 1:56.66 to win by two seconds over freshman teammate Carlos Souto Vilas (A Coruna, Spain). It was Metz’s second individual title of the day, as he also won the men’s 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:44.77.
Then, with the meet hanging in the balance, the quartet of freshmen Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) and Jakob Grundbacher (Long Beach, Calif.), senior Josh Graves (Topeka, Kan./Seaman) and junior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa) posted a time of 1:25.38 to win the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay and ice the victory for UE. Santos Lopez, Di Domenico and Grundbacher had teamed with sophomore Alon Baer (Gesher Haziv, Israel) earlier in the meet to make Evansville history, as they recorded UE’s first event victory at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in the 200 Medley Relay.
On the women’s side, junior Sage Moore (Lexington, Ohio/Lexington) and freshman Sveva Brugnoli (Rome, Italy) helped power the Purple Aces to a sweep of the triangular meet. Moore swept the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events in times of 1:08.47 and 2:25.34, respectively. Meanwhile, Brugnoli cruised to victories in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events in times of 56.94 and 2:08.64. Her time of 56.94 in the 100 fly is a season-best mark, and ranks her as the eighth-fastest swimmer in UE history in the event.
The UE women were also aided by the job of the female divers, as senior Maggie Franz (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) led the way by sweeping both the one-meter and three-meter competitions. In fact, UE swept the three-meter competition, as freshmen Val Marx (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) and Kaylee Ivy (Evansville, Ind./Central) placed second and third in the event.
“I was really proud of how our younger divers stepped up today,” said UE diving head coach Dustin Bredemeier. “We had some people out today, but both Val and Kaylee stepped up big, and I was really proud of how all three women competed this afternoon.”
Evansville will return to the pool next weekend, as UE travels to Carbondale, Illinois to take part in the Southern Illinois Invitational, before beginning its winter training period.
