The Eastern Michigan University women’s swimming and diving team finished off their second meet in as many days with a convincing win over the Toledo Rockets Nov. 3 at the Jones Natatorium by a score of 163.5 to 136.5.
The back-to-back meets worked to the Eagles’ favor given that they did not have to travel outside of Michigan.
The Eagles traveled to Detroit the day before for the dual meet against Wayne State University and returned back to Ypsilanti immediately after the event ended.
With the short trip back home, EMU’s head coach Peter Linn still felt concerned about fatigue setting in early going into the matchup against the Rockets.
“It was difficult to make the quick turnaround given that Toledo is the defending Mid-American Conference champion, but at the end of the day it worked out well,” Linn said.
Out of the 16 events, the Eagles won nine and the Rockets won seven.
“I feel very good about the nine victories, but at the same time because the heats were very close, the results could have went either way,” Linn said.
The Eagles started the meet in spectacular fashion, with the team of senior Helena Tolic, senior Lauren Kalinosky, sophomore Jessie Godlewski and freshmen Maddie Miller taking first place in the 200-medley relay.
Senior Briana Emig continued her strong start to the season by finishing first in the 500-freestyle with a time of 4:57:98 and second in the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:53:41.
Emig also took first place in the 1,000-freestyle with a time of 10:19:14, while freshmen Audra Burtch took second with a time of 10:21:70.
Linn said, “Emig is always good. She continues to impress and I do not take her for granted, because she is the best at what she does.”
In the 100-breaststoke, Kalinosky took the top spot with a time of 1:05:77 and also finished in first place in the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:21:56.
In the 200-butterfly Kalinosky and junior Jacquelyn Swartz finished first and second, with times of 2:01:43 and 203:39, respectively.
On the diving side, the Eagles were very impressive as senior Kelly Hendricks, redshirt junior Danielle Hulvey and sophomore Lauren Dark finished first, second and third, respectively, in both the one and three-meter dive events.
Hendricks’ time in the one-meter was 302.63, Hulvey’s time was 293.10 and Dark’s time was 258.60.
Hendricks’ time in the three-meter was 324.90, Hulvey’s time was 293.55 and Dark’s time was 283.50.
This impressive performance by the Eagles’ divers is a testament to diving coach Loren “Buck” Smith’s training regimen.
“This time of the year, Buck does training regimens that can be grueling, but at the end of the day, all of the hard work pays off,” Linn said.
With the win, the Eagles move to 3-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in the MAC.
EMU will look to continue their undefeated season next Saturday, Nov. 10, when they travel to Rochester, Mich. to square off against the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies.
The meet time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Oakland University Aquatic Center.
