The men’s and women’s swim teams began their four-day Summit League Championship meet on Wednesday at IUPUI after almost a month off from competition.

For the first day, the events were the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay for both the men and women.

The Panthers are in last place in the standings for both teams after day one with the men having 52 points, trailing the leader Denver with 80. The women have 48 points while IUPUI leads with 119. The Panthers saw some personal best times in their respective events. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the team of freshman Karleen Gernady, senior Fallyn Shwake, senior Paige Eavenson had their best times during their event. Coach Jacqueline Michalski said that sophomore Martee Grainger was “just a hair off,” of her personal best. The team took seventh place with the total time of 7:56.01.

“We had some small mistakes that we can easily fix and make adjustments for to make ourselves better for the next three days,” Michalski said. “Looking forward to getting some rest tonight, getting some great swims in over the next three days.”

The team of freshman Kailey Adcock, freshman Gloria Gonzales, senior Sydney Jarrard and sophomore Caro LaMarque did not place in the 800-yard freestyle but finished with a time of 8:22.19.

Sophomore Nick Harkins had his best 50-yard split of the season, a personal best of 20.56. Harkins, along with junior Patrick Wood, junior Matt Jacobs, and senior Brogan O’Doherty took sixth place in the 200-yard medley relay, with a total time of 1:33.98. Finishing with the time of 1:40.56 in the same event was freshman Colin Frazee, sophomore Logan Long, junior Shamus Shields and sophomore Tyler Parrish.

For the men in the 800-yard freestyle relay, the team of Harkins, junior Brandon Robbins, junior Jennings Soccorso-McCoy, junior Steve Fishman finished in the time of 6:52.94 which was good enough for a sixth place finish. Finishing behind them with a time of 7:11.46 was the team of sophomore Alex Laleian, sophomore Pat Stingle, junior Bryan McPherson and junior Ben Pitlock.

For the women’s side of the 200-yard medley, the team of sophomore Lauren Oostman, junior Dani DiMatteo, freshman Rachel Manderscheid and Grainger took seventh place touching the wall at 1:48.43. Finishing a couple of spots behind them in the time of 1:54.42 was freshman Julia Martin, junior Niki Beringer, junior Renae Johnson and freshman Jaelyn Williams.

Tyler McCluskey can be reached at 581-2812 or at trmccluskey@eiu.edu