The University of Indianapolis men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted their last home meet of the season on Jan. 24, as they competed against both the Lewis University Flyers and the Washington University in St. Louis Bears. Both sides representing UIndy came out victorious, as the men won 178-99 over Lewis, 199.5-90.5 over Washington, and the women defeated Lewis 199-77 and Washington 157-133. The victories preserved the Greyhounds’ position in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) third released NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Rankings of the 2014-2015 season, as the men came in at No. 16 and the women were placed at No. 19.
On top of celebrating their victories, UIndy also celebrated the team’s group of eleven seniors for their annual Senior Meet. Those honored at the meet included Adil Assouab, Doron Benjamin, Daniel Chan, Dalton Herendeen, Tyler Offutt, Justin Rossillo, Aaron Stevenson, Hayley Good, Sarah Griffin, Risa Ricard and Brittany Sicard. The seniors claimed 11 event wins on the day for UIndy, as Rossillo led the way with four victories and Chan posted three of his own, including an individual gold for the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly.
For the Greyhounds’ divers, Offutt represented the seniors with a leading performance, as the Evansville, Ind. native was victorious in the 3-meter board with a total of 274.85. Offutt’s best score on the day, however, came in the 1-meter board competition, when he posted an A-cut total of 337.85.
For the women during the meet, the Greyhounds were led by sophomore Agnieszka Malecka, who took four wins on the day. Malecka claimed her four victories in the 100 back, 200 IM, 200 back and as part of the 200 medley relay team as the first leg. Also included on that victory in the 200 medley relay was junior Hannah Schuster, who anchored the group for the Greyhounds. Schuster would go on to win even more events, as she also claimed the 50 and 100 free. In diving, junior Natelie Todd represented the women’s team in victory, claiming the 3-meter with a total of 220.20.
Following the conclusion of the meet, Head Swimming and Diving Coach Gary Kinkead said he felt positive about the performances displayed by both the men’s and women’s teams for the Greyhounds.
“I was real pleased,” Kinkead said. “I thought we did really well because we did not swim very well last week against Grand Valley [State University]. This weekend was much better.”
Kinkead said that adjustments in UIndy’s preparation for the meet were a factor in their performance.
“I think it [adjustments] is [becoming a factor] because we are starting to transition between our hard training and taper training, and I was real pleased with the results this week,” he said. “So right now, I think we are on track for [the Great Lakes Valley] Conference [Championships] in a couple of weeks.”
Benjamin expressed the same feelings about the meet and how UIndy is preparing in their training, and said that the victories were “…a good start to taper up to the [Great Lakes Valley] Conference [Championships].”
UIndy will look to take their motivation from the victories into the postseason next week, when they travel to Crawfordsville, Ind. for the GLVC Championships, which will take place Feb. 11-14 with a starting time yet to be announced.
