EVANSVILLE, Ind.  –  Swimming and diving opened their spring slate this evening with a duel meet against Eastern Illinois. Both squads saw victories for their Senior Meet.

The final standing for the women were: Evansville: 228, Eastern Illinois: 60. For the men: Evansville: 158, Eastern Illinois: 130.

"I'm very happy for the wins," said head coach Rickey Perkins. "It's been a tough week, coming back from our winter training trip where we did a lot of work. We've had a lot of illness, a lot of kids hit by the flu. We had maybe 8 kids out of the meet. I'm very impressed with the way that they raced, though; it would have been easy to come in and overlook the competition, but everyone raced great. I'm very proud of their effort overall."

Before the competition, the team took time to honor the senior class of 2018—Courtney Coverdale, Danielle Freeman, Jessi Hildebrand, Kasey Rein, Cory Barnes, Gabe James, Keystone Marcy, Prescott Marcy, Brendan Ninneman, and Dan O'Brien.

The women kicked off the evening with a victory in the 200 Medley Relay. Junior Sam Gowdy, sophomores Alaina Sylvester and Emma Hennessy, and senior Danielle Freeman teamed up to clock in a 1:48.44, nearly 6 seconds ahead of the second place Panther relay.

Sophomore Ashton Adams and Emily Lane earned the first of many event sweeps for the Aces, theirs in the 1000 freestyle. They took 1^st and 2^nd at 11:04.92 and 11:15.50 respectively.

Gowdy earned an individual win in the 100 backstroke, clocking in a 59.42. Sophomore Kristy Kupfer followed in 3^rd with a 1:01.07, while freshman Kasey O'Rourke took 4^th with 1:01.96.

Sylvester took a victory herself in the 100 breaststroke, her final time a 1:07.85. Junior Kaylee Gubricky followed shortly behind at 1:10.68 for 2^nd.

Freshman Kara Steward took the 200 butterfly for the women in a 2:10.85, while senior Kasey Rein clocked in a 2:15.33 for 2^nd place to complete the sweep.

Gubricky snuck in a win in the 50 freestyle with a 25.35, followed by Emma Hennessy at 25.44. Freshman Andrea Ramis took 4^th with a 25.66.

Junior Kristen Myers won the 100 freestyle with a final 55.62. Ramis touched in at 55.75 for 2^nd.

Another sweep was taken by the women in the 200 backstroke. Gowdy led the way with a 2:10.20, with Kupfer taking 2^nd with 2:11.28, and O'Rourke in 3^rd with 2:13.49.

Sylvester took another win in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:28.07. Sophomore Shaina Weisberg kept it close at 2:37.63, but was barely out-touched and took 3^rd. Freshman Sarah Alexander clocked in a 2:40.33 for 4^th.

The women's distance team took another sweep for the Aces in the 500 freestyle. Senior Jessi Hildebrand took the lead with a final 5:28.87, followed closely by Emily Lane's 2^nd place 5:33.35, and freshman Grace Cullen's 3^rd place 5:34.97.

Steward returned for the 100 butterfly, taking 2^nd place by a mere .01 at 1:00.41. Rein slipped into 3^rd place ar 1:00.86, while Hennessy brought up the rear with a 4^th place 1:01.57.

The women's final individual event resulted in yet another sweep. Ramis and Kupfer stayed neck-and-neck at 2:14.05 and 2:14.34 for 1^st and 2^nd respectively. Ashton Adams took the 3^rd place spot with a 2:18.66.

The women ended the evening with a victory in the 200 Freestyle Relay. Hennessy, Gubricky, Sylvester, and Freeman clocked in a 1:40.34.

The men started the meet with a 2^nd place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Sophomore Brandt Hudson, freshmen Eli James and Ryan Wood, and junior Jared Sutphin clocked in a 1:38.21.


Sophomore Samad Abu-Shanab earned another 2^nd place finish for the Aces with a 10:32.08 1000 freestyle. Junior David Stoddard took 4^th with a 11:12.13.

Freshman Austin Smith earned the men's first win of the evening in the 200 freestyle with a final 1:45.31. He was followed by Sutphin in 1:46.40 for 2^nd place and the event sweep.
Hudson kept the momentum moving with a 1^st place finish in the 100 backstroke; he recorded a 53.06. Senior Brendan Ninneman took 3^rd with a 56.64 finish.

The Aces stayed in the middle of the pack in the 100 breaststroke. Eli James led the way with a 3^rd place finishing 1:01.61, followed by freshman Pierce Lively at 1:04.22 for 4^th.

Sophomore Paul Cozzens earned a victory with a 1:56.64 finish in the 200 butterfly. Senior Prescott Marcy clocked in a 2:02.69 for 4^th place.

Junior Matt Duke took his own win in the 50 freestyle with a 22.00, while senior Gabe James touched in 5^th at 23.14.

Jared Sutphin took to the pool once again for the 100 freestyle, coming in 3^rd with a 48.94. Duke followed in 4^th with a final 50.19.

Brandt Hudson came back for a win in the 200 backstroke with a 4 second leading 1:56.82. Ninneman took 3^rd with a 2:04.24.

In the 200 breaststroke, Cozzens was just barely out-touched with his 2:10.68, ultimately earning him 2^nd place. Eli James took 4^th with a 2:18.95, and a 2:19.82 finish saw junior Derek Stauder in 5^th.

Austin Smith took another win, this time in the 500 freestyle. His final 4:57.46 put him 5 seconds in the lead. Abu-Shanab took 3^rd with a final time of 5:03.12.

Prescott Marcy moved up in the ranks for the 100 butterfly, this time taking 2^nd place with a time of 52.74. Sophomore Zack Sagan followed suit in 3^rd, clocking in a 54.84. Junior Andrew Schroeder stayed with the Aces at 55.40 for 4^th.

Cozzens took the victory in the final individual event of the night. He clocked in a 1:59.08 in the 200 IM, while Smith took 2^nd with 2:02.62. Ninneman scored a 2:06.51 for 4^th.

The men took another 2^nd place relay finish in the 200 Freestyle; Eli James, Jared Sutphin, Ryan Wood, and Brandt Hudson teamed up for a final 1:28.67.

On the diving side, senior Courtney Coverdale led the way for the Aces. She took the win on 3-meter with a final score of 239.92. Freshman Natalie Gerard took 2^nd with 188.70 points, and sophomore Alyssa Vonder Haar took 3^rd with 147.97. Coverdale won the 1-meter competition as well, with 286.20 points. Gerard took another 2^nd place with 215.10 points, and senior Kasey Rein took 3^rd with 190.87.

Junior Miguel Marcano won both boards for the men, scoring 277.80 points on 3-meter and 263.40 on 1-meter. Senior Cory Barnes then took 2^nd with 241.72 points on 3-meter and 234.15 on 1-meter.

The Aces will have less than a week before they return to action with a road duel versus Saint Louis on Thursday afternoon. Competition is set to begin at 5 p.m. CT at Simon Recreation Center.

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