Oct. 23, 2004
Complete Results
Chicago, Ill.- It was an explosive beginning for the University of Illinois at Chicago men's and women's swimming and diving teams, as the Flames swam past visiting Eastern Illinois in UIC's season opener at the UIC Natatorium.
The men's team took a 134-84 dual meet win, while the UIC women grabbed a 127-91 victory to make both Flames squads 1-0 on the campaign.
"It's great to start the season off with a victory," said UIC head coach Paul Moniak. "We feel this is positive momentum for the stretch of meets we have coming up."
The win marked the first of five straight weekends of meets for the Flames, who will face off with three Horizon League opponents during the stretch.
UIC started things off well right off the bat with wins in the women's and men's 200-yard medley relay.
Vanessa Segovia and Ari Bernstein swept the 200-yard freestyle events for the men, with Segovia taking the women's win in 1:59.37 and Bernstein victorious for the men in 1:46.03
LeRoy Stevens went two-for-two in sprint free events, racing to wins in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle for the men.
Newcomers had spectacular debuts for UIC. Colleen Dougherty took the women's 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events, while Andrea Giczewski went neck-and-neck with teammate Alicia Perry to squeeze out the 200-yard women's IM win in 2:19.12.
Giczewski was also victorious in the 100-yard backstroke, edging out another teammate, Jessica Darud, for the win.
"Andrea Giczewski had a nice debut," said Moniak. "Colleen Dougherty did a very nice job."
For the men, Dan Hare was outstanding in both the 200-yard IM and the 100 breaststroke. The youngest Hare on the team made his debut with the 200 IM win in 1:57.24, while slipped under the one-minute mark for the 100-yard breaststroke with a 59.48.
"Dan Hare had two very nice swims," said Moniak. "He has the ability to be one of the top newcomers in the Horizon League."
Dan's older brother, Bill Hare, was victorious as well, taking the men's 100-yard backstroke.
Diving continued to be a strong suit for the Flames, as Ryan Fitzer took the men's one-meter diving event, while Sarah Economides and Mark Pappalardo gave UIC a sweep of the three-meter boards.
The butterfly events marked another win on both sides for the Flames, as Kris Simos (52.21) and Kelly Hyatt (1:02.08) took the 100-yard fly races.
UIC will host the UIC Diving Invitational on Sunday at 10:00 a.m., while the swimming teams will journey to Evanston, Ill., for the annual Northwestern Relays at noon tomorrow.
