INDIANAPOLIS – An emphatic start to a new season, the IUPUI men's and women's swimming teams were victorious in their 2016-17 opener at the Natatorium Thursday (Oct. 6), dropping the University of Indianapolis on both sides. The women finished with a 198-95 victory, while the men tallied a 166.5-133.5 final score.
"Overall this was a great way to start the season," Head Coach
Matt Bos said. "We had contributions from everyone, including our freshmen who were outstanding in their first collegiate competition. As a group the attitude in training has been phenomenal and it really showed in the way they came out and raced tonight."
Several new faces for the Jags made a substantial impact in the pool, as seven events were won by newcomers on the women's side, compared to two for the men.
Perhaps the most impressive event of the day for IUPUI came in the 1000-yard Freestyle event, in which newcomer
Olivia Treski of the women's team and sophomore
Ben Levart of the men's team each finished with the third-fastest time in program history. Treski logged a 10:26.85 time in the event, while Levart finished in 9:34.96. Treski finished with the top time on the women's side.
Eline van den Bossche and
Claudia Crawford were exceptional in their debuts for IUPUI, as the duo combined for five top times in five events. Bossche finished first in the 100-yard Backstroke (58.26), the 200-yard Backstroke (2:05.87), and the 200-yard Individual Medley (2:11.68), while Crawford was tops in the 100-yard Breaststroke (1:07.86) and the 200-yard Breaststroke (2:26.78).
John Ragsdell turned in a pair of fastest times in the 200-yard Freestyle (1:41.45) and the 200-yard Individual Medley (1:53.91). The freshman swimmer's time in the 200 IM was the eighth-fastest finish by a Jaguar swimmer in school history.
Also placing his time in the record books,
Adam Wait finished with a 1:53.41 in the 200-yard Butterfly, the top time on the day and seventh-fastest finish at IUPUI.
"October can be a tough stretch of training," Coach Bos continuedl. "We are excited to start with a meet like this against a really good UIndy team and look forward to continuing to build upon these results.
Fresh off a year in which he was named the Summit League's Diving MVP,
Krisztian Somhegyi quickly returned to form, taking first in both the one-meter and three-meter springboard events. His 314.55 points in the one-meter marked the 10th best performance in program history, while his 367.95 points in the three-meter was the second-best.
Melissa Berger also leap-frogged her way to a stellar finish, placing first in the one-meter (247.95) and three-meter (246.08) events.
Combined, the men's and women's teams finished with the top time in 21 out of 32 events, with the women collecting 13 top spots in 16 events, to eight for the men.
The Jags will return to the Natatorium Saturday (Oct. 8) for a meet with Western Illinois. The event will not feature team-scoring, as it will track only individual results.
The next dual-meet for IUPUI will come on Oct. 21 against Eastern Illinois.
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