Illinois-Chicago, Wright State Split Horizon League Matchup

CHICAGO, Illinois, October 6. HORIZON League rivals Wright State and Illinois-Chicago split their matchup on Saturday, with the Flame women and Raider men coming out on top.

Illinois-Chicago Press Release
The UIC men’s and women’s swimming and diving program began their season on Saturday afternoon by hosting a dual meet against Horizon League-foe Wright State. The women’s team triumphed by a final of 184-111, while the men were nipped by the Raiders, 176-124.

“Although we came up short on the men’s side, we are still very happy with how both teams reacted in racing after just five weeks of training,” said head coach Paul Moniak. “We now feel that this starts off another segment of the season and we are ready for the dual meet season.”

The quartet of Melanie Waszak, Monica Pinkus, Veronica Gibson and Whitney Johnson came up big for the Flames as they each garnered two individual first-place honors.

“We talk about them all the time and they continue to get our team off to a great start at the beginning of the season,” said Moniak.

Waszak dominated in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.73, winning by more than two seconds. She then claimed victory in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall at 58.48.

Pinkus out-performed the 100 breaststroke field and notched a first-place time of 1:05.40. Later in the meet, she powered her way to a win in the 50 free (24.29).

Gibson was the meet’s first individual medalist in the 1,000 free with a top time of 10:45.27. The sophomore also won the 500 free in a winning time of 5:14.44, which was part of a 1-2 UIC finish as Nikki Martinez took second.

Johnson swept both diving events with scores of 302.18 (three-meter) and 264.68 (one-meter).

Junior Anne Jacobsen notched an individual victory as well in the 100 backstroke with a result of 1:00.33.

The women also took home first in both relay races as Jacobsen, Pinkus, Waszak and Kelsey Millin kicked off the meet with a win in the 400 medley relay (3:56.90), while Pinkus, Waszak, Millin and Katherine Hare grabbed first in the 200 free relay (1:37.82).

On the men’s side, junior Mike Reed and sophomore Kei Ishimaru shined for UIC with two event wins apiece. Reed won the 50 free in convincing fashion with a time of 20.87 and then out-touched WSU’s Carnell in the 100 free to take first with a mark of 46.98.

Ishimaru doubled in the 100 and 200 fly as he owned both events. In the 100 fly, the Sycamore, Ill., native, triumphed by nearly a full second as he touched the wall at 51.40. He’s time of 1:54.86 in the 200 fly was just enough to best WSU’s Ross.

The men also won both diving events as freshman Tyler Pastore earned first-place honors off the one-meter board, totaling 254.03 points. Sophomore Mark Cieslielski dominated from the one-meter height with a result of 259.13, besting the second-place finisher by more than 25 points.

The men capped off the day by winning the 200 free relay by just three-one hundredths of a second over Wright State. The quartet of Reed, Brian Sivak, Nick Kowaleski and Peter Errichiello combined for a first-place time of 1:25.07.

“We will spend this next week sharpening our racing, splits and turns,” said Moniak. “We’ve spent a lot of time training long course and now that we are on a short course the details are much more important.”

Both squads continue action next weekend at new-league member Oakland on Saturday, Oct. 11 with a scheduled start time of noon CT.

Wright State Press Release

he Wright State men’s swimming team won at UIC Saturday 176-124 while the women’s team lost to the Flames 184-111. The WSU men are now 4-0 on the season after defeating the Flames for the first time since 2009 while the women are 3-2.

The men had eight first-place finishes on the day, led by freshman Clement Quilliec, who won the 100 and 200 breast and 200 IM and was a part of the victorious 400 medley relay team. WSU also had first-place finishes from Steffen Listerman, who won the 100 and 200 back, and Matt Dassow in the 1000 free.

First-place showings for the Raider women included Samantha Miller in the 100 free, Kortney Mullen in the 200 back, Kayla Fearrin in the 200 breast and Emily Hayhow in the 200 IM.

Wright State will open the home portion of its schedule next Saturday, October 12, at 11:45 against Ashland at the WSU Natatorium.

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