CARBONDALE, Illinois, February 2. THE Southern Illinois University swimming & diving teams played host to the University of Evansville Purple Aces. On Senior Day for seven members of the team, the Saluki women won by a score of 119-58, while the SIU men won by a count of 151-52.
The Salukis recognized seniors Stephan Ackermann, Abby Blank, Julie Ju, Gareth McGee, Antonio Santoro, Patrick Sullivan and Ivan Zgomba prior to the meet.
SIU got off to a great start, winning the 400-yard medley on both the men's and women's sides. The women's team of Kelly Dvorak, Marcela Teixeira, Ju and Isabel Madeira won the event with a time of 4:00.00. For the men, Alex Marrucho, Jameson Kuper, Ackermann and Dennis Hedo combined to win with a time of 3:30.30.
Evansville's Christina Schmidgall picked up a win in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:02.98. SIU's Colton Kleynhans won the event on the men's side with a time of 17:02.13.
Ju collected her first individual win of the day in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:51.36. Therese Mattsson and Emily Duerringer took second and third places, respectively with times of 1:55.10 and 1:58.92. The Saluki men also swept the top three spots. Antonio Santoro won the event with a time of 1:39.36. Dennis Hedo and Zach Harris followed with times of 1:39.76 and 1:47.97, respectively.
Madeira picked up an individual win in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.58. Ackermann won the event for the men with a time of 21.51. Finishing just behind Ackermann was SIU's Anthony Bousquet with a time of 21.91 seconds.
Lisa Jaquez and Samantha Dvorak took the top two spots in the 200-yard IM for the SIU women. Jaquez won the event with a time of 2:13.36 and Dvorak finished second with a time of 2:17.28. The men swept the top three spots in the event. Gareth McGee won the event with a time of 1:54.53, Kuper followed with a time of 1:58.83 and Christopher Gaffney came in third with a time 2:00.91.
Kasey Fernandez won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.19. Jaquez followed in second with a time of 1:00.34. SIU's Bousquet won the event for the men with a time of 50.77. Ackermann and Ivan Zgomba followed with times of 52.30 and 53.68, respectively.
Ju collected another individual win in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.49 seconds. Tovah Gasparovich followed in second with a time of 54.88. Patrick Sullivan won the event for the Salukis on the men's side with a time of 49.17.
Mattson won the 100-yard backstroke for SIU with a time of 1:00.36. On the men's side, McGee, Marrucho and Time Silkaitis swept the top three spots. McGee won the event with a time of 51.86 seconds, Marrucho followed at 51.96 and Silkaitis finished third with a time of 52.95.
Karin Mullendore, Fernandez and Keli Kramer collected the top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle. Mullendore won the event with a time of 5:18.41, Fernandez followed with a time of 5:24.97 and Kramer finished third with a time of 5:29.02. Santoro, Harris and Zgomba took the top three spots for the Saluki men. Santoro won the event with a time of 4:38.41, Harris finished second with a time of 4:56.33 and Zgomba placed third with a time of 4:58.94.
Teixeira won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.92. Hedo, Kuper and Silkaitis took the top three spots in the event. Hedo won with a time of 58.67, Kuper placed second with a time of 59.70 and Silkaitis placed third with a time of 1:00.66.
The Saluki women's team of Madeira, Duerringer, Gasparovich and Rachael Slattery won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:39.38. The men's team of Bousquet, Santoro, McGee and Harris won the event with a time of 3:10.85.
In diving action, SIU's Emily Gable won the three-meter event with a score of 244.50. Evansville's Joshua Fletcher won the event on the men's side with a score of 268.80.
Gable picked up another win in the one-meter with a score of 249.52. Nicole Macvey followed in second place for thee Saluki women with a score of 186.90. Evansville's Geoffrey Keller won the event for the men with a score of 244.95.
Special thanks to Southern Illinois for contributing this report.