LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a two-week break, Bellarmine swimming returns to action Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.
Beginning at 3:00 p.m., the women's team faces Indiana State and Eastern Illinois in a double dual at the Vigo County Aquatic Center. The men's team will only face EIU in a dual at 5:30 p.m.
Eastern's men's team is 1-2 this season with a loss to Evansville (125-76), win at Valparaiso (155-107), loss to Ball State (161-95), and fifth place finish at the A3 Performance Invite. The Knights' men's team finished third in that same invitational.
The Indiana State women's team is 1-4 this year with losses to Indiana (253-47) and Kentucky (251-49). The Sycamores also fell to Illinois (184.5-98.5) and Missouri State (221-132), sandwiching a win over Northern Iowa (187-113). ISU most recently placed third out of six teams at the Kansas Classic in Topeka, Kan.
Like the men's team, EIU's women's team is 1-2 with a win over Valparaiso (167-95). The Panthers finished fourth at the A3 Performance two weekends ago, while the Bellarmine women's team earned third place.
The BU women's squad is 2-2 this season with wins over Butler and Centre. The men's team is 1-1, defeating Centre on Oct. 30. The Knights have racked up four CCSA Swimmer of the Week honors this year –
Matthew Sims,
Rachel Walker,
Brandon Thomas, and
Anna Holt.
Last Time Out:
The Bellarmine men's and women's swim teams earned third place finishes out of five teams at the A3 Performance Invite hosted by Southern Illinois.
Women's:
- Southern Illinois (1,353)
- Evansville (728)
- Bellarmine (424)
- Eastern Illinois (321)
- Valparaiso (220)
Men's:
- Southern Illinois (1,214.50)
- Evansville (612.50)
- Bellarmine (436)
- Valparaiso (373)
- Eastern Illinois (301)
On the women's side, the Knights had five top-three finishes in relays.
Grace Lough, Liz Stevenson,
Morgan Bender, and
Megan McEwen (1:39.83) earned fifth place in the 200 yard freestyle, while
Maya Sorensen, Lexi Pierce,
Rachel Walker, and Stevenson (3:58.59) combined for third in the 400 medley relay. In the 200 medley relay, Sorensen, Liz Schrenger, Walker, and Lough (1:47.81) linked up for fourth place. The 800 freestyle relay featured a third place finish for Walker,
Meghann McLaughlin,
Avery Witcher, and
Anna Holt (7:57.96). Finally, Walker, Lough, Stevenson, and McLaughlin (3:36.46) corralled third in the 400 freestyle relay.
Individually, Walker once again impressed collecting second place in the 100 yard butterfly (55.91), fourth place finish in the 100 yard freestyle (52.44), and another fourth place finish in the 500 yard freestyle (5:04.59).
Other top-five finishes included Holt racing to fourth in the 200 yard butterfly (2:08.20) and fifth in the 1650 freestyle (18:01.41), while Sorensen wrangled fifth in the 100 yard backstroke (58.04).
Witcher collected sixth place in the 400 IM (4:40.65), Schrenger found seventh place in the 100 backstroke (1:06.92), and Pierce grabbed sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:24.07).
For the men, BU earned a pair of third place relay finishes.
Adham Howaidy,
Andrew Nguyen,
Jacob Dray, and JP Metzner (1:34.34) touched the wall third in the 200 medley relay, while
Brandon Thomas,
Kenton Whiteley,
Matthew Sims, and
Greyson Williams (7:00.53) teamed up for third place in the 800 freestyle relay.
The only first place finish for the Knights came from
Matthew Sims in the 200 butterfly (1:47.99). M. Sims also placed seventh in the 500 freestyle (4:44.55) and 400 IM (4:05.50). His twin brother,
Daniel Sims tallied a seventh place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:06.80). Thomas nabbed third place in the 1650 freestyle (16:21.27) with Howaidy placing fourth in the 200 backstroke (1:55.81). Howaidy also earned seventh in the 100 backstroke (53.41), and Reynolds picked up seventh in the 100 breastroke (59.01). Metzner was the top Knight in the 100 butterfly, racing to sixth (50.30), and Williams placed seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:43.56).
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