The Eastern men and women’s swim team both defeated Western on Saturday while the women’s team lost to Butler

The men’s team beat Western 141-121 and won two relay events: the 200-medley (1:31.01) and the 400-freestyle (3:12.28). Despite having a weekend of rest last week, the men swimmers knew this meet was going to be a challenge.

“We knew it was going to be a close meet so we focused on finishes in practice,” freshman Scott House said. “It turned out for almost every close race, we came out ahead.”

House earned first place twice on Saturday as he won the 200-free (1:45.63) and the 100-free (47.98). Going into the meet, House said he was most confident going into the 100-free. House was the anchor, or last swimmer, in the first place 400-freestyle event.

“We work well as a group,” House said. “I’ve never been part of a program with this kind of comradery and it has really helped me as a freshman and the other freshman guys feel the same. It’s just a good job by the upperclassmen that keep us going.”

House was not the only men’s swimmer who walked away with a first place finish. Freshman Ivan Escott finished first in two events: the 200-butterfly (2:01.34) and 100-butterfly (53.03).

Seniors Matt Jacobs and Steve Fishman also had first place victories.

Aside from the men’s team, the women’s team split the two matches, defeating Western 133-129 and losing to Butler 180.5-81.5. Their win against Western was a close meet and has now won three straight against Western, but this is their second loss in a row to Butler.

“I wouldn’t say we’re satisfied with a loss, but I’m proud of how hard we fought after a couple weeks of really tough practices,” senior Emily Stroud said. “We had to stay mentally tough and just keep trying to get our hands on the wall first in order to beat Western.”

The women Panthers had five-first place swimmers against Western. Junior Lauren Oostman was the only woman Panther to win two individual meets: the 100-back (59.55) and 200-back (2:11.52), and also helping win the 400-free relay (3:42.17).

The other women swimmers who finished first were freshman Sarah Lohman and sophomores Kailey Adcock, Julia Martin, and Karleen Gernady. Gernady was the only individual event swimmer to defeat both teams in the 200-fly (2:15.56).

Aside from Gernady, the two other women Panthers who found success against Butler were senior Danielle DiMatteo and Lohman. DiMatteo’s first place time was 1:01.09 and Lohman’s finished second with a 1:01.48.

The Panthers will have 20 days of practice and rest until they travel to Indianapolis on Nov. 17 to compete at House of Champions. The men and the women both finished in 11th out of 12 teams in last year’s House of Champions meet.

The Panthers have been swimming at the “House of Champions” meet since the 2011-2012 season and this is the first time the men have been undefeated going into it. It is also the first time the men have been undefeated through their first three meets.

The women also won three in a row, aside from losing against Butler. The women’s 3-1 start to this season is also their best in recent years.

House of Champions stretches across three days at IUPUI.

Adam Shay can be reached at 

581-2812 or acshay@eiu.edu.