This past Saturday was a continuation of streaks for the Eastern swim squads during the Panthers’ meet against Valparaiso at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Indiana.

The men made quick work of the Crusaders with a 156-69 victory for the team’s sixth consecutive win. The Panthers opened the meet winning the first four events (200 medley relay, 1000-free, 200-free and 50-free) en route to a 55-18 lead. When all was finished, Eastern won nine of the 12 meets to cruise to the victory.

On a day of streaks, Panthers freestyler Rich Wahlgren continued his own by winning the 100-free for the fifth straight time. The senior won the race by nearly a full second over Valpo’s Bob Schmidt 48.83 to 49.64. Wahlgren also won the 200-free and took part in the victorious 200-free relay. With the two individual wins against Valpo, Wahlgren has won a team-high 17 races this year.

“Rich is really swimming well,” Padovan said. “He had some pretty good swims against Valparaiso.”

Also chipping in for the Panthers was freshman Bill Senese who won the 50-freestyle for the seventh time in eight meets this year. Much like his high school teammate Wahlgren, Senese ousted Valpo’s Schmidt to win the short race.

Other winners for Eastern included junior Tom Watson in the marathon 1000-free (9:59.93) and the 500-free (4:50.66), freshman Dave Trabilsy (one and three-meter dive), and junior Eric Peterson with a time of 54.75 in the 100-butterfly.

“We swam really well,” Padovan said. “Valparaiso also swam well, and both schools had some good races. We were way too deep for them and that’s why we won.”

The women also stayed hot with the team’s third consecutive dual meet win, this time coming from behind to defeat Valpo 141-98.

Eastern was down by nine after starting slow dropping the 200-medley relay. However, the Panthers would not trail for long as senior Jordan Sherbrooke won the 1000-free for the second straight meet, and Eastern took three of the top four spots in the event to tie the meet up. Sherbrooke later broke a 37-37 tie and put the Panthers ahead for good with a win in the 200-individual medley. The Avon, Ind., completed her trifecta winning the 500-free in 5:18.22.

“The last two weeks (Sherbrooke) has been swimming phenomenally,” Padovan said. “Last week she set a school-record in the 1000-free (10:44.50) and this week she was just a second off that time. She kept us solid winning three events.”

In the sprint events, freshman Marlise Davidson opened some eyes by winning the 50-free just ahead of sophomore Jenny Curry 25.72 to 25.75. Davidson also picked up the win in the 100-backstroke and was a member of the first-place 200-free relay.

Eastern received two more event wins from diver Lindsae Baldes in the one and three dives and closed out the meet taking 13 of the 17 points in the 200-free relay.

Heading into the meet, Padovan knew Valpo had a tough women’s team but said he expected the Panthers to be victorious.

“Yeah, I really thought we would have success,” Padovan said. “Valparaiso swam well, but especially in the diving events we had too much depth. We had a lot of close meets but we were able to win the close swims.”

Although on paper the Panthers seem to be on a tear, Padovan admitted there is work needed to be done before the season culminating Midwest Classic Championship arrives on Feb. 19.

“The women really seemed tired and sluggish this meet while the men didn’t,” Padovan said. “But we have about three and a half weeks to figure it out before the Midwest Classic Championships.”