Evansville vs Valparaiso
- Friday, October 14, 2022
- Valparaiso, Ind.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Final Team Scores:
- Women: Evansville 137, Valparaiso 65
- Men: Evansville 149, Valparaiso 56
Courtesy: Evansville Athletics
VALPARAISO, Ind.—The University of Evansville men’s and women’s swimming teams had a strong start to their 2022-23 season on Friday at Valparaiso, while divers Madison Rollett (Evansville, Ind./Reitz), Valorie Marx (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) and Levi McKinney (Boonville, Ind./Boonville) impressed in a diving competition against the University of Southern Indiana on the UE campus.
Swimming-wise, the UE women won all 11 races against the Beacons, while the men won 10 of the 11 races. Overall, UE took home a 137-65 victory on the women’s side and a 149-56 victory in the men’s competition. In fact, in the women’s competition, Evansville was not beaten by a single Valparaiso swimmer in any of the 11 races.
“Overall, I thought it was a great way to start the season,” said UE swimming and diving head coach Stuart Wilson. “I saw some different people step up today, and it was also good to see our new swimmers get their first taste of Division I competition. Overall, a lot of positives today.”
Sophomore Sveva Brugnoli (Rome, Italy) and senior Sarah Jahns (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) led UE women’s dominance, as they were undefeated in all three swims they competed in. Brugnoli won the individual titles in the 50-Yard Freestyle (25.01) and 100-Yard Butterfly (57.72), while teaming with seniors Sage Moore (Lexington, Ohio/Lexington) and Sonsoles Aguayo (Jerez, Spain) and junior Iryna Tsesiul (Minsk, Belarus) to cruise to the title in the 200-Yard Medley Relay in a time of 1:48.40. Meanwhile, Jahns dominated both the 500 Free (5:15.11) and 1,000 Free (10:40.07), and led off UE’s victory in the 200-Yard Free Relay (1:41.50), teaming with seniors Allison McDonald (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Cape Central) and Maya Cunningham (Yakima, Wash./Eisenhower) and junior Abigail Groenewold (Lombard, Ill./Timothy Christian).
On the men’s side, senior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa), junior Jackson Caudill (Mount Sterling, Ky./Montgomery County), and sophomore Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) were undefeated in the pool on Friday. Di Domenico won both the 100-Yard (46.40) and 200-Yard Freestyle (1:40.97) events, while teaming with Santos Lopez, junior Alon Baer (Gesher HaZiv, Israel) and sophomore Benjamin Hasanovic (Innsbruck, Austria) to win the 200-Yard Medley Relay (1:32.51). Caudill, meanwhile, won both distance freestyle events, winning the 500-Yard race (4:44.75) and 1,000-Yard race (9:47.47). Lopez went a perfect three-for-three in the pool, winning the 200 Medley Relay, the 100-Yard Butterfly (50.99) and the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay (1:26.02) along with sophomore Jakob Grundbacher (Thalwil, Switzerland), junior Grant Kay (Ellicott City, Md./Hebron), and freshman Mohammed Rashed (Manama, Bahrain).
Diving-wise, Rollett and McKinney swept the one-meter and three-meter competitions on the women’s and men’s sides. Rollett dominated on the one-meter board, posting a personal-best mark of 253.50 to just miss posting an NCAA Zone-qualifying score by 12 points in the season-opening competition. Marx also posted a collegiate-best one-meter score of 217.88 to place second. McKinney, meanwhile, posted scores of 254.03 in the one-meter competition, and 247.35 in the three-meter competition to best high school teammate Lane Pollock of USI in the men’s competition.
“I was really pleased with what I saw today out of the divers,” said UE assistant/diving coach Dustin Bredemeier. “To have both Maddie and Val post personal-best scores in the first meet of the year is obviously a great way to start, and I thought that Levi did some very good things in his first collegiate meet. Overall, I am very pleased.”
The Purple Aces are back in action again next Friday, when the UE women take part in the MVC Showcase in Carbondale, Illinois, while the UE men will battle Southern Illinois and Missouri State in a two-day meet in Carbondale.
Courtesy: Valpo Athletics
The Valpo men’s and women’s swimming teams made their respective season debuts at home at the Valparaiso Aquatic Center on Friday evening as the Beacons faced off against Evansville in a dual meet. The evening was highlighted by freshman Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion) taking first place on the men’s side in the 200 IM.
How It Happened
- Oostman touched the wall in the 200 IM in 1:55.42 to take top honors in the event. The freshman’s time ranks fourth in the event in program history.
- Oostman also added a second-place finish in the 100 back, touching the wall in 53.38.
- Oostman was one of three Valpo swimmers to pace the team in a pair of events. Freshman Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) came home in 49.19 in the 100 free for a second-place finish and also led the Beacons with a time of 1:48.52 in the 200 free.
- Fellow freshman Ricky Helmboldt (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona Connections Academy) led Valpo in both the 500 free (5:03.05) and the 1000 free (10:19.13).
- On the women’s side, freshman Emma Wise (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) placed second in the 1000 free with a time of 11:47.38 and fellow rookie Emma Schmidt (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley) earned a second-place finish of her own in the 500 free (5:23.63).
- Schmidt also paced Valpo in the 200 free (1:59.81), while sophomores Dot Chislett (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) led the Beacons in a pair of individual events apiece as well. Chislett was the top-finishing Beacon in the 200 IM (2:16.46) and the 100 fly (1:02.06), while Strauss led Valpo in the 50 free (25.85) and the 100 breast (1:10.51).
- In all, Valpo was led by freshmen in eight of nine individual events on the men’s side and in four individual events on the women’s side.
- Evansville won the team scoring on both fronts, 137-65 on the women’s side and 149-56 on the men’s side.
Next Up
Valpo returns to the pool next Saturday, Oct. 22 in a tri-meet at Eastern Illinois which will also feature Bellarmine.