The Eastern Michigan men swam to victory in a travel dual meet against Ball State this weekend, giving them their 69th straight MAC dual meet victory. The final score was 168-118. Full results can be found here. Read on for full recaps from both teams.
Eastern Michigan:
A one-two sweep in the 200 Medley Relay saw the Eagles best the Cardinals’ top squad by plenty. Junior Cole Bateman(Hutchinson, Minn.-Hutchinson) teammed up with seniors Chris Hodges (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson), Erik Gissen (Karlstad, Sweden-Alvkullegymnasiet), and Andrew Henry (Garner, N.C.-West Johnston) to put together a first place finish, touching in with a time of 1:33.86.
Sophomore Logan Burton (Chesapeake, Va.-Hickory) extended EMU’s lead in the 1000 Freestyle, capturing his second win of the season in the event, with EMU junior Chris Cutter (Fishers, Ind.-Fishers) taking second.
Back-to-back one-two finishes were followed up with back-to-back sweeps for the Green and White in the 200 Free and 100 Backstroke. Senior Krzysztof Gilski (Dywity, Poland / Adam Mickiewicz State Secondary) won the 200 Free while junior Kyle Lichtenberg (Clarkston, Mich.) and freshman Jean-Francois Murphy (Montreal, Quebec-Sainte Anne) rounded out the top three.
Returning to the water after a win in the relay to open the dual, Bateman and Gissen placed first and second, respectively in the 100 Back. The win marked the second win of the season in the event for Bateman, while Gissen posted his best finish of the year. Junior Erik Brinkhoff (Bethel Park, Pa.-Bethel Park) came in third with a time of 53.86 to complete the sweep of the event.
The Eagles extended their win streak to six events with Hodges and junior Marcin Rzyski (Olsztyn, Poland-Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace #4) winning their respective races. Hodges bested the field by more than a second on his way to winning the 100 Breast before Rzyski did the same in the 200 Butterfly.
After a second place finish in the 50 Free by Tyson, the team’s turned their attention to the springboard where freshmanTom Gillis (Halifax, Nova Scotia-Citadel) took over. In the 1-meter, Gillis posted a score of 306.30, nearly 100 points better than the top diver on the opposition. Gillis showed no sign of cooling off in the 3-meter, where the Halifax, Nova Scotia native turned in the best score of his career. A 333.98 by Gillis gave him the win, with senior Brendan O’Shea (South Lyon, Mich.-South Lyon) claiming second with a 277.50.
Cutter rode an early lead to a first place finish in the 200 Back, clocking in nearly five seconds faster than the second place finisher.
Cutter’s victory was followed up by a win by Henry in the 200 Breast and Murphy’s first career win in the 500 Free before sophomore Connor Johnson claimed the top spot in the 100 Fly for the third time this season.
Bateman closed out individual races with a convincing win in the 200 Individual Medley before the Eagles closed out the day with a win in the 200 Free Relay.
With the win, Eastern Michigan claimed its 21st consecutive dual win over the Cardinals and its first win on the road this season.
The Green and White return to action at home in Jones Natatorium, Jan. 22, for a co-ed dual with Wayne State University. Competition is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
EMU Individual Results
* Denotes Season-Best Time
1000 Free
1. Logan Burton 9:43.43
2. Chris Cutter 9:53.51
4. Hunter Cook 10:07.09
200 Free
1. Krzysztof Gilski 1:43.70
2. Kyle Lichtenberg 1:44.55*
3. Jean-Francois Murphy 1:45.01
100 Back
1. Cole Bateman 50.89
2. Erik Gissen 51.94
3. Erik Brinkhoff 53.86
100 Breast
1. Chris Hodges 58.09
x. Kyle Aerne x58.04
x. Lance Bergmann x1:01.46
200 Fly
1. Marcin Rzyski 1:53.98
x. Connor Johnson x1:55.05
50 Free
2. Jake Tyson 21.74
5. Kevin Moore 22.20
6. Dylan Crompton 22.29
1-meter
1. Tom Gillis 306.30
x. Peter Rusenas 321.23
x. Brendan O’Shea 297.15
x. Nicholas Fox 270.60
100 Free
3. Dylan Crompton 48.58
5. Josh Kreider 48.86
6. Kevin Moore 48.96
200 Back
1. Chris Cutter 1:55.62
x. Hunter Cook 1:59.74
x. Kyle Lichtenberg 2:00.77
200 Breast
1. Andrew Henry 2:06.01*
x. Kyle Aerne x2:06.11
x. Jake Tyson x2:11.19
100 Fly
1. Connor Johnson 50.84
x. Krzysztof Gilski x51.33
x. Marcin Rzyski x52.88
3-meter
1. Tom Gillis 333.98*
2. Brendan O’Shea 277.50
5, Peter Rusenas 28.80
x. Nicholas Fox x242.33
200 IM
1. Cole Bateman 1:55.41
x. Ricky Perez 1:55.63
x. Chris Hodges x2:00.32
Ball State:
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men’s swimming and diving team fell to the defending Mid-American Conference champion Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon at the Lewellen Aquatic Center. The Cardinals earned 118 points to the Eagles 168.
Junior Austin Green led the Cardinals with two individual event wins on the day, including the 50 freestyle (21.54) and the 100 freestyle (47.20). Green also closed the meet with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:26.63) with teammates Andrew Carlson, Bradley Ridge and Cole Smith.
In addition to the relay success, Carlson finished second behind Green in the 100 free when he touched the wall in 48.51, while Smith earned third in the 50 free with a 21.84 final.
Sophomore Zach Toman tallied a pair of second place finishes with finals of 1:00.93 and 2:17.07 in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breast, respectively. Similarly, junior Tanner Bartonfinalized two individual second-place times with a 1:54.97 final in the 200 butterfly, followed by a 51.60 mark in the 100 fly.
In diving action, freshmen Lane Sawyer and Gabe Dean each posted new career-highs on both the one- and three-meter boards. Dean cinched second in one-meter action with a 211.05 mark, as well as third in three-meter competition with a score of 207.00. Sawyer finished third from the one-meter with a score of 184.05, paired with a fourth place finish on the three-meter board with a 201.15 final.
The Ball State men’s swimming and diving team will hit the road for the remainder of meet competition in January, beginning with participation at the Butler Invitational Jan. 24, followed by a MAC meet at Evansville on Jan. 29. The Cardinals will then round out regular season action at the Lewellen Aquatic Center with its senior day meet against Miami on Feb. 13.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men’s swimming and diving action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMSwim on Twitter.
Swimming news courtesy of Eastern Michigan and Ball State Swimming & Diving.
