EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville swimming and diving teams opened up their season this weekend with a dual meet against SIU.
 
The final standings of the meet for the men were SIU: 89, UE: 54. For the women, SIU: 97, UE: 49.
 
"It was a very exciting meet," said head coach Rickey Perkins. "We got a lot of information from it.  I think we're on track for hopefully a very fantastic season from what we saw today. There's a lot of things we can go back and fix, and we will go back and fix them. Turns are one thing, and a little more endurance in terms of sprints. We've been working on building a base. I was happy with the team's spirit overall. We won some races which is always exciting, we won some races that before we wouldn't have even been close in. It was nice to see the progress."
 
The divers took to the boards Friday night. Freshman Natalie Gerard led the Aces on 1-Meter with a score of 216.37, good for 2^nd place. Sophomore Alyssa Vonder Haar followed suit with a 138.30. Junior Miguel Marcano also took 2^nd place for the men with a final score of 253.42. The Aces took 2^nd place across the board for the 3-Meter competition as well. Vonder Haar earned a 149.92 and Marcano a 248.08, missing 1^st place by less than a point.
 
The swimmers took their turn in the water Saturday morning.  The race of the day was the mixed 200 Medley Relay, consisting of freshman Credence Pattinson, sophomore Alaina Sylvester, senior Dan O'Brien, and junior Madi Jones. The group was neck-and-neck with the SIU squad for the duration of the race, but Jones, as the anchor, was able to edge out the competition for a 1^st place finishing 1:43.65.
 
The Aces took another victory in the 300 Backstroke Relay. Pattinson, O'Brien, and sophomore Brandt Hudson touched in at 2:34.91 for the win.
 
A decisive victory in the 500 Freestyle Relay was taken by juniors Matt Duke and Jared Sutphin, freshman Austin Smith, and Hudson. Holding the lead for the duration of the event, they clocked in a 4:10.76 over a 2^nd place SIU 4:18.60.
 
The women put up strong performances of their own. The 300 Backstroke Relay of junior Sam Gowdy, freshman Kasey O'Rourke, and sophomore Kristy Kupfer landed a 2^nd place finish with a time of 3:00.63.
 
Additionally, the 300 Breaststroke Relays took 2^nd and 3^rd. Sylvester and fellow sophomore Shaina Weisberg, with junior Amy Smith, touched in at 3:35.22, while teammates Kaylee Gubricky, Sylvia McFadden, and Sarah Alexander earned a 3:43.72.
 
The final 200 Freestyle Relay was a close one, ending in another 2^nd place finish for the Aces. Juniors Kristen Myers and Gubricky, with sophomores Kupfer and Emma Hennessy teamed up for a final time of 1:41.40.
 
The Aces are back in action next weekend in Fishers, Indiana for the Butler Quad Meet on Sunday.

 

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