SIU vs Eastern Illinois
- January 18, 2025
- Carbondale, Ill.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Scores
Courtesy: SIU Athletics
Carbondale, Ill. – It was Senior Day on Saturday for Southern Illinois swimming and diving, and the Salukis welcomed in-state rival Eastern Illinois to Shea Natatorium for an afternoon competition. In what was the final home meet of the year, SIU’s men’s team picked up a 164-78 victory while the women’s team won 194-58.
“Extremely proud of this group of seniors who have transformed this program in so many ways to enjoy a successful Senior Day,” said head coach Geoff Hanson. “With big goals in mind we are focused on hard work and details moving into the final weeks of the season. This group of senior Salukis will be missed.”
Inside the Results
- Across the 26 events featuring both schools, 54 Saluki individuals or relay teams finished in the top-three of an event. Thirteen of those 26 events featured podium sweeps by Southern Illinois.
- All but one of the first-place finishers in the competitive events was from SIU.
- Celia Pulido, Olivia Herron, Susanna Hernandez, Henrique Pacheco Januario, and Alex Santiago all finished first multiple times in individual events for SIU.
How It Happened
The day started with the 1650-yard freestyles, with both events only featuring Southern Illinois. On the women’s team, Fernanda Sánchez finished first, followed by Ale Hoyos Horvath and Vritti Agarwal. Joshua Aceves was the only participant in the men’s event, finishing his run in 16:21.67.
Following the distance swims, the Salukis took a break to recognize their 21 seniors during the Senior Day ceremony for all they have contributed to the Southern Illinois swimming and diving program. These seniors included Pulido, Sanchez, Jules Atkinson, Morgan Dietzel, Addy Foreman, Megan Mathers, Farida Moussa, Keely Ohlhauser, Apryl Paquette, Jasmine Rau, Ali Robertson, Karen Rodriguez, Mia Sinkiewicz, and Corrin Williams from the women’s team, and Santiago, Pacheco, Nicolas Lanuza, Alex Brodsky, John Cameron, Donat Csuvarszki, and Lee Haywood from the men’s squad.
After the ceremony, the competition resumed with the women’s 200-yard medley relay, where Southern Illinois swept the podium. The “A” team took first, followed by the “B” and “C” teams.
Individual events started with the women’s 200-yard freestyle, in which Pulido finished first, Herron second, and Bea Padron third. The men’s 200-yard freestyle was just as much as success, with Rodrigo Ramos, Willem Huggins, and Hazem Aboustate standing on the podium in that order.
Moving to the 100-yard backstroke, Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez was crowned champion on the women’s side, but her teammates Brooklyn Anderson and Tia Jankovics also found spots on the podium. The men’s event also featured three Salukis on the podium in the form of Cameron, Alex Cimera, and Elliott Dye.
While SIU did not sweep the podium in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke, Robertson and Madalyn Booker still occupied the top two spots. Pacheco and Tiago Faleiros won the gold and silver medal on the men’s side, respectively.
Southern Illinois returned to sweeping the podium in the 200-yard butterfly events, with Atkinson, Sanchez, and Tamara De la Torre filling up the women’s top-three, while Lanuza, Nate Worsham, and Juraj Barcot did so for the men’s event.
The women’s team was just as dominate in the women’s 50-yard freestyle, as Hernandez finished first, Zaria Terry second, and Masha Zhukova came in third. Santiago led the charge in the men’s 50-yard freestylee, being the only swimmer to finish the race in less than 20 second. Runner-up to Santiago was his teammate, Benedek Andor.
Hernandez sat in first place again after the women’s 100-yard freestyle, with Zaria Terry acting as her runner-up again; Ava Rines rounded out the podium The men also had three podium finishes in their 100-yard freestyle, as A.J. Terry, Andor, and Csuvarszki finished top-three in that order.
All six podium spots between the two 200-yard backstroke podiums were occupied by Salukis. The women’s top-three was Gallegos, Jankovics, and Anderson, while Huggins, Dye, and Brodsky were top-three for the men’s 200-yard backstroke.
The women’s 200-yard breaststroke featured the first and only NCAA “B” standard time for SIU, with Herron’s swim of 2:12.80 qualifying while also putting her in first place. Booker and Robertson followed Herron up in the event. Pacheco was the only SIU swimmer in the top-three for the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, but he managed to grab first place.
Another gold-medalist was Pulido in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, and Barcot did the same on the men’s side of the event. Moving to the 100-yard butterfly, Padron led the pack for the women while Santiago finished first on the men’s side. The individual events concluded with the 200-yard IM. Herron was able to add one more first-place finish to her resume in the event, while Andor sat atop the podium in the men’s group.
The competition ended with the 200-yard free relay. SIU’s “B” team beat out the rest of the group in the women’s relay, then the men’s “A” team ended the afternoon on a high note with one final gold medal.
Up Next
Both squads earn some time off before the women’s squad resumes action on February 1 with a trip to Vanderbilt. As for the men’s team, they will not be competing again until the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, which start February 19.
Courtesy: Eastern Illinois Athletics
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois men’s and women’s swim teams traveled to Southern Illinois for their second dual meet of the weekend on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers’ sole first-place finish of the day came in the men’s 200 medley relay, as Andrew Herman, Nolan Wallace, Eddie Myers, and Dismas Dillon posted a time of 1:36.37.
Myers added two more top-three finishes, with a second-place time of 4:50.03 in the 500 free and a third-place finish in the 200 IM (2:00.97), while Conner Colston took third in the 500 free (4:50.49) and second in the 200 IM (1:57.88).
Meanwhile, Sebastian Rosales took silver in the 100 fly (53.68) while Andrew Herman finished second in the 200 breast (2:12.70).
Other podium finishes for the EIU men included a third-place finish for Dismas Dillon in the 50 free (21.77) and a bronze for Nolan Wallace in the 200 breast (2:13.07).
For the women, Claire Malinowski brought home the first podium finish of the afternoon with a third-place time of1:13.21 in the 100 breast.
Corinne Staneart posted a second-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.08. She was followed by Genevieve Biberdorf in third place (2:22.28)
Autumn Grinter also earned a silver with a time of 1:01.66 in the 100 fly. Izzy Glasgow finished third in the 100 fly as she clocked a time of 1:03.13.
Sydney VanderVelde and Anna Mueller finished second and third in the 500 free, with VanderVelde posting a time of 5:33.18 and Mueller recording a mark of 5:41.76.
The Panthers will be back in action next weekend with a trip to Southern Indiana for an intraconference clash on Saturday, January 25th at 1 p.m.
