Eastern Michigan Earns First Win of Season With Narrow 155-145 Triumph Over Oakland

ROCHESTER, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University swim and dive team captured its first victory of the 2023-24 season, winning a 155-145 thriller over in-state foe Oakland University inside the Oakland University Natatorium Thursday, Nov. 16.

“(I’m) Super proud of our team tonight; it was back-and-forth all evening. The team pulled together at the end to seal the victory. Shout-out to Taylor Harris for getting her first win as an Eastern Michigan Eagle,” said Head Swim Coach Derek Perkins.

Eastern earned its first event win in the 1,000-yard freestyle with Ali Kudo (Guelph, Ontario/John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute) finishing first in a season-fastest 10:23.13, followed by Morgan Hofmeister (Powell, Ohio/Liberty) in third, whom also swam her fastest time of the season, finishing in 10:38.90.

Per-usual for the 2023-24 campaign, EMU again secured the 100 backstroke as the Green and White filled the one, two, and three spots with Kiersten Russell (Clinton, Mich./Saline) finishing first in 56.31, Siporah Sang (London, Ontario/Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School) in second in 57.20, and Marlee Christie (Seminole, Fla./Seminole) in third in 57.63. Russell and Christie’s times go down as their fastest of the season.

The Eagles tabbed consecutive event wins as they also secured the 100 breaststroke via Taylor Harris (Tiffin, Ohio/Calvert/Bowling Green) securing first in 1:05.84 with Nina LaRosa (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) following in fourth in 1:07.52 and Madelyn Sursi (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) in fifth in 1:07.77.

EMU collected a victory in the three-meter dive as well. Rebekah Knapp (Mesa, Ariz./Skyline) led the Eastern divers in the event, scoring a personal-best 293.63 points, with Camryn Hughes (London, Ontario/Sir Frederick Banting Secondary) taking second, tabbing 275.85. Keira Veltigian (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) slotted in third scoring 275.03.

Eastern would next triumph in the 200 backstroke as Russell took first once more, this time in 2:02.77, edging out a season-fastest time by 0.3. Russell was trailed by Sang, who placed fourth in 2:08.11. The Eagles would then win the 200 breaststroke with Abby Szadorski (Oswego, Ill./Oswego East) placing first in 2:21.38 and Harris in second in 2:24.01.

Meanwhile, the divers repeated with another win in the one meter dive as Savannah Fisk (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) earned her first win in the event while scoring a personal-best 270.38 points. Fisk was supported by Hughes and Knapp, who placed third and fourth, respectively.

The 200 freestyle relay decided the meet, with Eastern’s A team of Christie, Katie Shoen (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy), Lucy Noble (Flagler Beach, Fla./Flagler Palm Coast), and Russell sitting atop the standings, collectively swimming the distance in 1:33.94, shattering their previous fastest-time of the season by over two seconds (1:35.96 at Ball State University, Nov. 4).

EMU Individual Results

400 Medley Relay
2. EMU A (Russell, Harris, Mina, Christie) – 3:49.54
3. EMU B (Sang, LaRosa, Clarino, Noble) – 3:52.57

1000 Freestyle
1. Ali Kudo – 10:23.13
3. Morgan Hofmeister – 10:38.90
7. Ashley George – 11:15.80

200 Freestyle
3. Emma Littrell – 1:55.47
6. Abby Szadorski – 1:58.81
7. Abbey Whipple – 1:58.86
8. Hannah Ward – x1:59.13

100 Backstroke
1. Kiersten Russell – 56.31
2. Siporah Sang – 57.20
3. Marlee Christie – 57.63

100 Breaststroke
1. Taylor Harris – 1:05.84
4. Nina LaRosa – 1:07.52
5. Madelyn Sursi – 1:07.77
7. Tristen Mina – x1:08.24

200 Butterfly
2. Katarina Pastar – 2:07.67
3. Olivia Clarino – 2:08.69
4. Sydney Ulmer – 2:09.76
6. Maren Romine – x2:11.56

50 Freestyle
2. Katie Shoen – 24.03
5. Lucy Noble – 24.43
7. Sophie Gatrall – 24.94
8. Abbey Whipple – x25.02

3 Meter Diving
1. Rebekah Knapp – 293.63
2. Camryn Hughes – 275.85
3. Keira Veltigian – 275.03
5. Savannah Fisk – x262.73
6. Ciara Wheeler – x248.85
8. Cate Migliori – x216.83
9. Tierney Fraidenburg – x201.08

100 Freestyle
4. Emma Littrell – 52.69
5. Marlee Christie – 53.00
6. Lucky Noble – 53.30
7. Abbey Whipple – x54.39

200 Backstroke
1. Kiersten Russell – 2:02.77
4. Siporah Sang – 2:08.11
7. Tristen Mina – 2:14.02

200 Breaststroke
1. Abby Szadorski – 2:21.38
2. Taylor Harris – 2:24.01
7. Madelyn Sursi – 2:31.70
8. Nina LaRosa – 3:32.10

500 Freestyle
1. Ali Kudo – 5:02.74
5. Morgan Hofmeister – 5:12.84
7. Maren Romine – 5:24.70
8. Hannah Ward – x5:24.89
— Ashley George – x5:26.89
— Sydney Ulmer – x5:30.04

100 Butterfly
2. Olivia Clarino – 56.45
3. Katarina Pastar – 56.85
6. Emma Littrell – 58.83
1 Meter Dive
1. Savannah Fisk – 270.38
3. Camryn Hughes – 254.85
4. Rebekah Knapp – 248.63
5. Keira Veltigian – x242.18
6. Tierney Fraidenburg – x218.70
7. Cate Migliori – x218.25

200 IM
3. Tristen Mina – 2:08.95
5. Abby Szadorski – 2:09.87
6. Taylor Harris – 2:10.90
8. Madelyn Sursi – x2:19.65
— Morgan Hofmeister – x2:13.70
— Maren Romine – x2:14.36
— Sydeny Ulmer – x2:18.41
— Nina LaRosa – x2:20.54

200 Freestyle Relay
1. EMU A (Christie, Shoen, Noble, Russell) – 1:33.94
3. EMU B (Littrell, Pastar, Whipple, Kudo) – 1:36.93
5. EMU C (Gatrall, Ward, Clarino, Sang) – x1:38.17

Up Next
Next up for the Eagles is the Denison Invitational, hosted by Denison University inside the Trumbull Aquatic Center in Granville, Ohio, Thursday, Nov. 30 – Saturday, Dec. 2.