Despite breaking eight school records and setting several personal bests, the Panthers came up short at the Mid-Continent Conference Championship.

“I thought we swam well enough,” said head coach Ray Padovan. “But unfortunately where our teams are strong is also where Oakland is the strongest. Our best couldn’t beat their best.”

Oakland University easily outscored the rest of the field and took the MCC championship for the seventh consecutive season. The Oakland men scored 1,013 points and beat IUPUI, who had 480 points. The Eastern men finished in fourth place scoring 421.50 points.

Eastern’s women’s team scored 583.50 points and finished in second place behind Oakland, who had 970 points.

“We knew going in that Oakland was head and shoulders above everyone else,” Padovan said. “It was still a very good meet for us.”

Four swimmers broke eight records this weekend.

Junior Bill Senese broke the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke records.

“The backstroke just felt really good,” Senese said. “Better than I ever have before. The 50 free I was hoping to be a little faster, but it was still a really good time.”

Senior Claire Garvey finished her senior season in the best possible fashion – breaking the school record in three different events. She became the Eastern record holder in the 400-yard individual medley, but took only fourth at the tournament.

Her record times in the 1,000 and 1,650 both fell in the same race. Her time through 1,000 yards of the mile race was faster than any individual 1,000-yard freestyle race so it counted in the Eastern record books.

“I guess I finally figured out to swim the mile,” Garvey said about her record time. “I usually started slow and had to play catch up at the end. This time I started fast and tried to pace myself with the Oakland girl next to me. She ended up beating me by one second but I was really happy with my time.”

Sophomore Patty Young finished her second season by making her way into the record books. She entered Eastern history with record times in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke.

“We had rested the week before so I was hoping to drop time,” Young said. “I just felt really smooth in the water and it was such a competitive meet with everyone cheering me on from the blocks and the stands.”

Junior Brittany Wininger also broke a school record at the meet. Her time of 2:11.12 in the 200-yard individual medley earned her the last of the eight new school records.

“We had a ton of lifetime bests,” Padovan said. ‘We haven’t even had time to count them all yet.”

Despite not joining some of her other teammates in the record-breaking frenzy, senior Jenny Curry swam very well.

“She didn’t break any school records,” Padovan said. “But she was phenomenal. She destroyed her best (times) ever. That’s really something when you can do that as a senior.

“You can’t walk away with a better feeling than knowing you swam three lifetime bests in the last meet of your career.”

There is only the awards banquet left for the seniors this season. While there will definitely be some reminiscing and feelings of nostalgia, the seniors know it is time to think about things other than swimming.

“I have been swimming competitively for a really long time,” Garvey said. “But I think it’s time to move on and start worrying about graduation and finding a job. I guess I’m getting old.”