Aces complete contest at McKendree
O’FALLON, Ill. – Saturday marked the season opener for the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams as they competed against McKendree University. The Bearcats, one of the top programs at the Division II level, both finished inside the top 20 in the nation last season.
UE’s men fell by a final of 168.50-90.50 with the women dropping a 135-106 decision.
Chris Rector picked up a win for the men in the 200-IM. Posting a 2:00.85, he defeated teammate Joao Guiherme by close to five seconds. Rector was second in the 200-breasstroke (2:11.20) and added a third-place finish in the 100-breaststroke with his time of 1:044.14. The group of Michael Pruett, Alex Willis, Brendan Ulewicz, and Sammy McCall won the 400 free relay. They combined for a time of 3:11.62.
Willis took second place in the 50-free. Swimming a 21.76, he was 0.23 off the top time. He added a third place run in the 100-fly, finishing in 52.34. Ulewicz was fourth in the race. Pruett picked up a second-place finish in the 100-free race. He swam a 47.07.
Joseph Capo registered a pair of top three efforts. His 9:59.06 saw him take third in the 1000-free before a 4:52.40 in the 500-free gave him another finish of 3rd. With a 1:47.06, Michael Pruett came in third place in the 200-free event. Boris Tavrovsky added third-place runs in the 100-backstroke (54.25) and 200-backstroke (2:01.58) race.
Ane Madina, Claire Mewbourne, Evelyn Chin, and Grace Moody opened the day with a victory in the 200 Medley Relay. Their time of 1:47.26 was just over a second on top of second place. Making her debut with the Purple Aces, Moody continued her solid day with a victory in the 100-free. Her time of 52.50 was just 0.20 away from one of the top ten times in program history. She was the runner-up in the 50-free race, finishing in 24.38, just 0.01 off the winning time. Jadyn Dauphinais was third, finishing in 25.41.
Claire Mewbourne took the victory in the 200-IM. With a time of 2:12.27, she came in just under two seconds in front of her nearest competition. She posted runner-up finishes in the 100-breaststroke recording a time of 1:06.18 before adding another second in the 200-breaststroke (2:23.17).
Madina was the runner-up in a pair of backstroke events. With a 2:11.62 in the 200, she took second place while her 1:00.01 in the 100 gave her another second-place finish.
Taking third in the 1000-free race was Audrey Wandling. Her time checked in at 11:17.88. She followed that up with a second in the 500-free, posting a time of 5:30.67. Evelyn Chin posted a solid run in the 100-fly, taking second place by under a second registering a 58.10.
