Eastern’s swim team is hard at work this weekend, as it is currently competing in the Summit League Championship meet in Indianapolis, Ind.

Panther head coach Matt Bos said that the team is excited to finally have reached the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

“This is what we’ve been working for all year, so the squad is obviously excited and ready to go,” Bos said, who is in his third year as head coach and also swam at Eastern under former longtime head coach Ray Padovan.

“You train all year for one competition and hope for the best while also putting it all on the line,” Bos said. “So hopefully they will be mentally, as well as physically, ready to go.”

Bos also said that while Oakland has been favored going into the meet, the second, third and fourth overall spots could very well be up for grabs amongst several teams.

The meet began this past Wednesday night, with the Eastern women finishing fourth in the 800-Free relay, as the team of senior Alyssa Lehman, senior Megan Eshleman, freshman Mary Lacine and sophomore Hailey Foss posting a final time of 7:50.24, with the top three spots being taken by Oakland, South Dakota, and South Dakota State, respectively.

The Panther men capped off the short Wednesday night session with a runner-up finish in the same event, as sophomore Ken Tiltges, junior Rich Waszak, and sophomores Mike Lacine and Joe Ciliak teamed up to finish in 6:48.65, finishing behind only the meet favorite Oakland Golden Grizzlies’ team, as the race was won in a time of 6:31.10.

Thursday morning featured several preliminary races to determine seeding for the finals later in the meet, and the Panthers had several swimmers make the top eight of their respective events to advance to the final swim.

The Panther men were lead Thursday morning by Tiltges, who qualified third overall in the 200-IM with a time of 1:53.16, and his classmate Colin McGill, who qualified seventh in the 50-Free with a time of 21.18.

The Panthers also saw sophomore Hailey Foss reach the finals in the 500-Free, finishing with a preliminary time of 5:06.97.

The Panthers also had several swimmers reach the consolation swim, which features the swimmers finishing 9-16 in the preliminary race.

The men saw sophomore Chacour Koop and freshman Steve Swiercz advance to the consolation round of the 500-Free, while the 200-IM consolation swim will feature Lacine, senior Matt Scaliatine, and junior Matt O’Hagan.

Senior Cody Showers also reached the consolation swim of the 50-Free, as he swam a 21.27 sprint to finish 10th overall.

The Eastern women’s team got senior Megan Eshleman into the consolation final of the 500-IM, as she finished ninth overall with a time of 5:12.00.

Mary Lacine also finished ninth overall in her race, as the freshman will compete in the 200-IM consolation with a qualifying time of 2:10.09.

The meet continues until tomorrow, and as of press time these results were the most recently available.

Brad Kupiec can be reached at 581-7944 or at bmkupiec@eiu.edu