The Eagle men of Eastern Michigan University kicked off their 2015-16 season with a victory against visiting Northwestern, as the two squads battled it out in Ypsilanti this afternoon. Several EMU athletes set the stage for an Eagle victory, with two key athletes doubling up on wins to give the home team the edge.
Final score: Eastern Michigan University 182, Northwestern University 118
Meet Results
In his college meet debut, freshman Tosh Kawaguchi racked up wins in the two backstroke events, sweeping the 100 and 200 distances. Kawaguchi notched marks of 49.95 and 1:48.05, respectively. Senior teammate Andrew Henry also collected two individual wins on the night, touching first in the 100 freestyle (45.54) and 200 freestyle (1:40.30) to further distance the Eagles from the Wildcats. To complete the triple-double in terms of multiple-event winners, senior Christopher Hodges earned the top prize in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events, with associated marks of 56.83 and 2:05.63.
EMU also swept both relays, adding 22 points to their point haul with the victories. The foursome of Cole Bateman (23.72), Christopher Hodges (25.84), Erik Gissen (22.44) and Henry (20.72) combined for a winning 200 medley relay time of 1:32.72 to hold off the charging Wildcats. Then, to wrap up the competition, the 400 freestyle relay squad of Gissen (47.46), Dylan Crompton (47.16), Bateman (47.04) and Henry (44.72) put together just the right mix of times to take over Northwestern’s ‘A’ relay after the Wildcats opened with the lead. Northwestern was leading halfway through the third leg, when senior Henry blasted an anchor split of 44.72 to secure the win.
Northwestern wasn’t without their spotlight swims, however, including a distance sweep by freshman Carter Page. Page registered victories in the 1000 freestyle by touching first in 9:29.94, winning the event by over 10 seconds. He would follow that up by topping 500 freestyle field, finishing first in 4:36.33.
Justin Hanson and Anthony Marcantonio also clocked Wildcat wins, with the former snagging the 200 butterfly victory in 1:51.90 and the latter taking the men’s 200 IM in 1:53.13. Almog Olshtein also came out on top with an individual win, speeding his way to the 50 freestyle win in a time of 20.97.
Claiming their first victory over Northwestern since 2011, EMU Head Coach Peter Linn said, “We were very happy with our progress the last ten days and happy to pick up the win. It’s very early and there is a long way to go and much to accomplish before we can realize our team goals.”
Great win for the Eagles and Head Coach Peter Linn!!!