After losing to McKendree University two weeks ago, the men’s and women’s swimming teams both beat William Jewell College over the weekend in the Pershing Natatorium.
The women’s team conquered William Jewell 146-59 and the men’s team beat them 128-75, making this the men’s first win of the year.
Head coach Jerod Simek said the team is trying to continue the momentum with what it has accomplished so far this season and continue working on individual goals at practice. He said he believes if the team continues to do these two things, then it will have more success throughout its dual meet season.
“The William Jewell meet has always been one our teams have gotten behind each other for,” Simek said about winning. “Our goal for this meeting was to win every event on both the men’s and women’s side. Although we didn’t ultimately achieve this, we had a lot of great swims and we as a staff are really proud of the team. We had a lot of 3rd and 4th event swims that people really excelled in.”
On the women’s team, sophomore Emma Brabham, freshman Holly Olson, junior Madeline Wilson and freshman Lexi Poe came in first for the 400-yard freestyle relay. Poe also won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:56.24.
“It was really exciting,” Poe said. “It’s one of my off events that I don’t get to swim that often, so I’m normally excited when I get the chance and I think that helps me perform well in it. My time was also where I wanted it to be for this time during the season, so that was also really exciting for me.”
Junior Jack McCormick and junior John Breen got first and second in the 100-yard freestyle for the men. They both took part in the team that won the 400-yard relay along with sophomore Michael Franz and senior Lliott Gieseke.
“The entire team has been working really hard and winning that relay showed that it was paying off for us as we’re getting toward the halfway point of the season,” McCormick said. “Getting to help my team individually, especially against a conference rival, by winning the 100 free was an added bonus and getting to see where my time is at compared to the rest of the GLVC and Div. II is great motivation for the rest of the year.”
In under two weeks, the men and women’s team will go to St. Louis to compete against Maryville University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the UMSL Tri-meet, the last meet before their midseason championship meet, the Mizzou Invitational, Nov. 20-22.
In St. Louis, Simek said the women’s team would like to stay undefeated in dual meets at UMSL. In regard to the men’s team, who lost by a small margin to UMSL at a conference, Simek said he is hoping the Bulldogs get a win this season to see where they stack up in midseason.
At the meet, Simek said the Bulldogs will be looking to see where the team’s training is at one last time before the Mizzou Invitational.