Evansville Men, Women Swim Past Valparaiso

Valparaiso fell to Evansville on both the men’s and women’s sides in dual meet competition last weekend. The Evansville men overcame Valparaiso 188-92, while the women swam to a 184-74 win. Read on for full team recaps.

Evansville:

Results

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Dominant efforts in all facets saw the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams earn a pair of wins over Valparaiso on Saturday at Wyttenbach Pool.

Evansville’s men won by a final of 188-92 while the women’s team took the victory by a final of 184-74.

“I am very happy for our seniors, they have been the leaders of the team.  They took ownership of the team and lead by example every day,” UE head coach Rickey Perkins said.  “I am very happy for our wins and am glad we can send the seniors off on a high note with this last home meet.”

Michaela Kent had a stellar day for UE.  She took top honors in the 50 free race with a time of 24.36 to finish ahead of teammate Abby Smith.  Kent picked up another victory in the 100 free as her time of 53.70 was over a second ahead of teammates Mackenzie Harris and Kristen Myers.

Kent also helped the Aces to a pair of relay victories.  Kent, Smith and Harris joined up with Charlotte Lechner to win the 200 medley relay in 1:51.50, over two seconds ahead of second place.  Smith, Harris and Kent joined Madi Jones in the 200 free relay, winning my nearly five seconds with their effort of 1:39.75.

Lechner also had a nice day of her own, posting a 1:01.29 in the 100 fly to edge out teammate Kasey Rein.  She also picked up two more victories.  In the 50 fly, her 28.49 was almost a second ahead of the competition while her time of 2:15.11 was over six seconds ahead of Valparaiso in the 200 IM.

Freshman Amy Smith brought home a pair of victories for the Purple Aces.  In the 50 breaststroke, her 32.72 edged out Valpo by 0.36 seconds while her time of 1:10.73 in the 100 breaststroke helped her edge out the competition.

Madi Jones picked up a win over her on in the 200 free.  Her 1:59.59 was over four seconds ahead of Valparaiso.  Taylor Davidson also picked up a win, taking top honors in the 100 backstroke, posting a 1:01.84 while Kristen Myers led a trifecta for UE as they swept the top three spots in the 50 back.

The men had a stellar day of their own.  Several Aces picked up victories, beginning with the 200 medley relay.  Ethan O’Rourke, Everett Plocek, Matt Duke and Matt Childress won by over three seconds with their time of 1:34.99.  In the 200 free relay, O’Rourke, Duke and Childress teamed up with Everett Plocek to win by almost three seconds, finishing with a time of 1:26.49.

O’Rourke picked up a nice win in the 50 backstroke.  His 24.34 was 1.36 ahead of second-place Reid Mobley.  He also grabbed the win in the 100 back as his 52.00 was 3.01 ahead of the rest.  Childress came home victorious in the 50 free, running a quick 22.19.

Dan O’Brien came home with a pair of victories on Saturday.  In the 50 fly, he won with his 23.39 while he took top honors in the 100 fly, finishing in 52.01.  Three others picked up wins on Saturday, including Plocke.  He swam a 48.49 in the 100 free.  Troy Burger won the 200 IM in 2:01.76 while Jared Sutphin posted a 4:58.90 to defeat teammate Andrew Cotton.

In diving, Courtney Coverdale took the win in both the 1 and 3-meter dives.  Her score in the 1m was a 277.87 while her 3-meter final was a 245.70.  Miguel Marcano won the 1-meter men’s dive with his effort of 234.97 while Cory Barnes won the 3-meter dive with a 268.65.

Valparaiso:

The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams competed for the final time before the Horizon League Championships on Saturday afternoon, competing at Evansville.

The Crusader men fell 188-92 to the Purple Aces, while the Evansville women won 184-74 in the dual meet.

Three Valpo men’s swimmers combined for four event victories on Saturday, led by a pair of wins from senior Fred Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany). Jenny captured wins in both the 50 breaststroke (27.02) and the 100 breaststroke (59.25).

Junior Arman Salim (Angola, Ind./Fremont) claimed top honors in the 200 free, touching the wall in 1:47.49. Meanwhile, freshman Dylan Kirar (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) continued a strong rookie season in the distance events, winning the 1000 free with a time of 10:09.72.

On the women’s side, junior Rachel Law (Wayne, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) won both the 500 free (5:24.87) and the 1000 free (11:06.83), while fellow Crusader Betsy Pogue(Corpus Christi, Texas/Flour Bluff) finished as the runner-up in the latter event. Junior Emily Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) claimed second place in the 50 and 100 breaststroke races, while sophomore Amanda Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) placed second in the 200 free.

Valparaiso will now train over the next three-plus weeks, aiming towards peaking at the 2016 Horizon League Championships. The four-day league championship meet kicks off Wednesday, Feb. 24 from Rochester, Mich.

Swimming news courtesy of Evansville and Valparaiso Swimming & Diving.

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About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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