EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville swimming and diving teams will head to Carbondale, Illinois this weekend for a two-day meet.  The women's team will take part in the four-team Missouri Valley Conference Showcase, while the men will battle tradition Valley members and Mid-American Conference swimming foes Southern Illinois and Missouri State.  Action will begin Friday at 4 p.m. with the first day of activity, while Saturday's competition will begin at 10 a.m.

On the women's side, the Purple Aces will compete against swimmers from SIU, Missouri State and Valley swimming member Little Rock.  There will be two heats in each event, with the top two swimmers from each school competing in one heat, while the next two in that event swimming in the second heat.  The Carbondale meet will be the "southern half" of the MVC Showcase, as UNI, UIC, Indiana State and Illinois State are all scheduled to compete in the "northern half" of the MVC Showcase this weekend in Chicago, Illinois.  Evansville is coming off of a 137-65 win at Valparaiso last week, in which senior Sarah Jahns (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) was impressive in the distance freestyle events, winning by eight seconds in the 500-Yard Freestyle, and by over a minute in the 1,000-Free.

"This is a unique way to highlight Missouri Valley Conference swimming this weekend," said UE head swimming and diving coach Stuart Wilson.  "It should be a fun competition and a nice way to see where we stack up in some different races at the beginning of the year against other Valley competition."

On the men's side, UE will face Southern Illinois and Missouri State in a similarly scored meet.  The UE men posted a 149-56 dual-meet victory at Valparaiso last Friday.  Senior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa) dominated the competition, winning by nearly five seconds in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:40.97, and wining by nearly three seconds in the 100-Yard Freestyle with a time of 46.40.

"Last week, I was really pleased with how we started the season on both the men's and women's sides," said Wilson.  "This week, it will be good to get out and race against some fast competition, and see where we are at."

UE's divers also excelled last week in a competition against crosstown foe Southern Indiana in a non-team scored meet.  Junior Madison Rollett (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) and sophomore Valorie Marx (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) both posted personal-best scores on the one-meter board to open the year, with Rollett winning both the one-meter and three-meter competitions on the women's side.  Meanwhile, freshman Levi McKinney (Boonville, Ind./Boonville) impressed in his first collegiate meet, with wins on both the one-meter and three-meter boards on the men's side.

Friday's competition schedule begins at 4 p.m. with the 400-Yard Medley Relay, and continues with women's and men's races in the 400 IM, 200 Freestyle, 50-Yard Freestyle, 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breaststroke, 1,000-Yard Freestyle, and the 200 Free Relay.  The women's three-meter diving competition and the men's one-meter diving competition will also be contested on Friday.