The men’s swim team has been in preparation for its meet against Evansville this Saturday for the past few weeks, after having an off-weekend last week.

The Panthers swim against the Purple Aces (1-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lantz Natatorium.

The team worked hard last week in practice to prepare for the meet – which looks like it could be close one.

Eastern head coach Ray Padovan knows both teams have their strengths and weaknesses.

The Aces are stronger in distance, he said.

“I haven’t found much about them, but Evansville matches up real tight,” Eastern head coach Ray Padovan said. “Last year, we won by a few, (and) it came down to the last relay when they had to come and win (it). Last year is last year, so we’ll find out a bit more (about our team) from two weeks off, (because) this is where we get better.”

The Panthers won 123-123 at Evansville last season, with six first-place Eastern finishes. Evansville also finished runner-up at the Panther Invitational. Eastern (1-2) won the invite at Lantz Natatorium. Evansville had 555 points, and Eastern won with 603.5 points.

The team has struggled this year in distance events and looks to find someone to fill the gaps that remain.

“Distance is our biggest problem,” Padovan said. “I’m hoping the solution will be Eric Krolikiewcz. He was a solid (200-500-meter racer) in high school. He hasn’t made the transition (for us) yet.”

Diver goes unnoticed the first couple meets

Junior diver Joe Laird has been an underrated factor in the team’s first couple meets.

In an Oct. 12 Ball State meet, when the men and women’s teams got swept, Laird won first place in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with 232.95 and 233.10 points, respectively. He improved his scores the next week against Illinois-Chicago, and he won the 1-meter (250.00 points) and the 3-meter (260.90 points) events.

“(Joe) Laird was nominated for the Summit League Player of the Week Award,” Padovan said. “He has done as good as he possibly could in meets. He’s a junior and it is a strength to have him; he’s been very strong for us.”

Freshmen swimmers have shown signs of stepping up

In the first meet against Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis, Matt Scaliatine and Nathan Moritz stepped up and had first-place finishes in the 200-meter breaststroke (2 minutes, 15.26 seconds) and the 200-meter butterfly (2:04.39). Scaliatine also added two more titles to his name in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:14.46) against Ball State and the 100-meter breaststroke (1:02.39) against UIC. Jayson Shine and Caleb Arthur also won the 200-meter free relay with a time of 1:28.82.

“We got a big group of freshmen. We have 12 freshmen out of (about 30 people on our team),” Padovan said. “My biggest surprise is Moritz, who is a recruited walk-on. He has adapted to the 200-fly, and they don’t swim that in high school. Scaliatine has been our top guy; Cody Showers hasn’t figured out where he’s at. (But) he has a lot of versatility. Shine is a sprint freestyler (for us, too).”