The Eastern men’s and women’s swimming teams saw mixed results after packing the weekend with a dual meet against Lewis University on Saturday that featured ten first-places finishes and a five-team invitational at Butler University on Sunday.

Against Lewis, the women’s team just outpaced the Flyers with a score of 138-127, but the men’s team was not as fortunate, falling short 98-168 to move to 2-3 in dual meets on the year.

For the women’s team, five different swimmers posted at least one first-place finish for the Panthers in individual events, and the team also laid claim to the top spot in the 200-medley relay.

Jessica Harris led the way with two top times in the 1000 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, respectively. Sarah Lohman won the 100 backstroke, Julia Martin won the 200 butterfly and Katy Black won the 200 backstroke.

Perhaps Eastern’s biggest feat was the 200 freestyle in which Sabrina Chu, Lily Schafer and Gloria Gonzales took first, second and third in that order for the sweep.

On the men’s side, just two individuals secured first-place slots, as Scott House finished ahead of the pack in the 50 freestyle, and Joey Talley took home the 200 individual medley. The 200 medley relay team also finished first.

The Butler Invitational was not as fruitful for the Panthers as the men’s team finished fourth out of five teams, comprised of Xavier, Saint Louis, Ball State and Youngstown State, and the women’s team finished last.

The bright spot of the Sunday event was House, who managed two season-low times in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21 seconds in the finals and a 46.04 finish in the 100 freestyle, both good for first place.

House also added an eighth-place finish in the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 53.38.

Jarod Farrow, Chris Dixon, Forrest Baumgartner, Ethan Dolan and Andrew Crouse all placed in the top 10 at least once.

For the women’s team, Harris had the top placing, taking sixth in the 1650 freestyle. Lohman and Schafer tied for seventh in the 100 freestyle, matching an even time of 54.84.

Schafer added another top-ten finish in the 50 freestyle, and Black and Chu managed top-10 finishes in the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle, respectively.

The women’s medley relay placed third with a 3:41.48 time.

Both teams return home for a tri-meet with Butler and Western Illinois on Saturday Feb. 1 for senior night before gearing up for the Summit League Championships from Feb. 19 to Feb. 22.

Oscar Rzodkiewicz can be reached at 581-2812 or orrzodkiewicz@eiu.edu.