Swim Teams Get Two Wins in Weekend Meets

Men Win Two Medley Relays Against IUPUI, Cleveland State

The UIC swimming and diving teams returned to action this weekend, swimming against Cleveland State and IUPUI on Friday and Saturday. Each day's events were scored as separate triple-dual meets. The Flames men swept both foes Friday, but were narrowly beaten twice Saturday. UIC's women swept the Vikings, but lost to the host Jaguars both days.

"It was good to get back in the pool against two Horizon League teams after our training break," head coach Tim Loeffler said. "We got some good swims from our upperclassmen that we will need to build on until we come back here next month" for the conference championship meet. "A number of our freshmen turned a corner since last fall, which was great to see and gives us a big boost down the stretch."

Swimming Highlights – Men

Hunter Crook dominated the 1000 free field, taking first by almost nine seconds. His time of 9:29.50 was a season low. He finished second in the 500 free, one spot ahead of Luke Hutchinson, and took third in the 1650 free – also one spot ahead of Hutchinson.
Michael Tegeler finished second in the 200 free both days, and in the 100 back. Four Flames finished in the top seven in the 100 back Friday.
Danny Sivak finished second in the 50 free by just eight hundredths of a second, but set a personal record in the process. Eric Weng and Mitch Milosch finished in a dead heat for fifth. Milosch moved up to fourth on Saturday, with Connor Homans in third. Sivak won the 100 breast in :57.78, and claimed victory in the 200 IM, where Gabby Sasia finished second.
Homans took second in the 100 free on Saturday.
Freshman Kyle Lewarchick got the first win of his career with a 4:02.93 swim in the 400 IM. He placed second in the 200 fly.
Sasia and Cameron Moran finished second and third, respectively, in the 100 fly.

Swimming Highlights – Women

Freshman Christina Neri won the 1000 free by over nine seconds, setting a season best in the process. She took second in the 500 on Friday and first on Saturday.
Lexie Joy continued her mastery in the 200 free with a win. She also took first in the 100 free. On Saturday, she won the 1650 free, just two seconds ahead of Neri. She finished second in the 100 free on Saturday.
Hannah Olsen and Abby Kunze each had top-five swims in the 100 back Friday. On Saturday, Olsen won the race in 2:05.96.
Becca Ballo, another freshman, was the Flames' top finisher in the 100 breast, taking fourth both days. Jessica Amyette finished in sixth on Friday and fifth on Saturday.
IUPUI dominated the 50 free Saturday, but Beth Kelzer, Lauren Johnson, Mariah Clemons, and Dani Cabrera took the sixth through ninth spots.
Annette Lesnicki and Kelly McGowan were the team's top finishers in the 200 fly.

Diving Highlights – Men

Felix LaFortune led the team on the 3-meter board with a third place finish and a score of 291.85. He also placed third in 1-meter. He won the 3-meter event on Saturday.
Andrew Lewarchick was right behind LaFortune on the 1-meter board. He took sixth in the 3-meter event, and Ryan Murphy was fifth.
Lewarchick jumped one spot ahead of LaFortune on the 1-meter board Saturday, taking third with 281.00 points.

Diving Highlights – Women

Cydney Liebenberg finished second in the 1-meter competition on Friday, scoring 252.25. She swept the 3-meter event with a score of 282.15 on Friday, and 265.70 on Saturday. She won the 1-meter board Saturday, increasing her score to 268.40.
Kallie Zuidema and Natalie Williams both finished in the top seven on both boards both days.

Relay Highlights – Men

UIC won the 200 medley relay as Milosch, Sivak, Sasia, and Homans got to the wall first. It was the first win in the event for the Flames this season, and their 1:32.21 tied the squad's best time.
The Flames had to settle for second in the 400 free relay.
The Flames took the top spot in the medley relay again Saturday, as Milosch, Sivak, Sasia, and Weng swam the 400 in 3:25.64.
The 200 free relay saw UIC take third.

Relay Highlights – Women

The Flames led things off Friday with a third place finish in the 200 medley relay. They set a team best time for the season of 1:44.93.
Joy, Johnson, Kelzer, and Neal teamed up to take second in the 400 free relay.
With the medley relay increased to 400 yards Saturday, the Flames stumbled to fifth.
The team of Scovill, Clemons, Cabrera, and Eyssen finished second in the 200 free relay.

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