The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis swimming and diving teams competed at Ashland University on Nov. 5. The men defeated the Eagles with a final score of 149-139, while the women lost, 159-117.

The Greyhounds won a total of 14 events during the meet.

The teams’ home opening meet against Wayne State University at the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center took place on Oct. 22.

The women’s team ended with a 163-131 win over Wayne State, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation last season.

Despite a 0-32 start at the meet, due to the lack of women divers for the Greyhounds, the team overcame the deficit for their first victory of the year.

The men’s team lost with a score of 143-155, barely succumbing to the Wayne State men’s team, which also held a top five ranking last year.

“It was really a shock and a bit of a surprise to me, because Wayne State’s women were second in the nationals and their men were third at the nationals last year,” said Head Coach Gary Kinkead.

The Greyhounds swam against DI Valparaiso, IUPUI and Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Indiana Intercollegiate meet.

Kicking off the season, the men’s team posted a second-place finish with 355 points, beating out Valparaiso and IUPUI.

The women’s team finished in third place with 306 points, ousting Valparaiso and missing a second-place finish by 16 points against IUPUI.

“It’s exciting to see how we compete against Division I, especially Purdue,” said senior breaststroke swimmer Jaclyn Luscomb. “It’s a fun first meet test to see where we are standing.”

The focus for the team this year is on attitude and teamwork.

“I think this year the main difference is we all swim as a team instead as individuals, and we were really happy with our team accomplishments instead of individual accomplishments,” Luscomb said.

Kinkead has his own take on how the team has improved since the last season.

“I’ve seen a big change in attitude from last year to this year,” Kinkead said. “Over the past four years, the attitude has gotten better,  and I think it’s because we’ve eliminated some of the ‘thinkin stinkin,’ and we have developed a lot more positive attitude.”

Senior distance swimmer Zachary Laffin believes there are improvements that the team could make to have a successful season.

“I would like to see more team mates cheer for our team rather than, after they’re done swimming, go and sit,” Laffin said.

Team attitude wasn’t the only improvement made in the last year.

Staffing additions have made a difference in the overall physical health of the Greyhounds’ swim team, according to Laffin.

“Our weightlifting program has definitely improved from my freshman year,” he said. “We’ve been jumping around from weightlifting coach to weightlifting coach, and now I feel like we have a solid weightlifting coach. He definitely knows what he’s doing. He’s worked with swimmers before.”

The Greyhounds are headed to Crawfordsville, Ind., next week to swim in the Woehnker Invitational on Nov. 18 and 19.

However, the meets scheduled in November are not the only ones the team is preparing for in advance.

“The one [meet] we are really pointing towards is the Calvin Invitational in early December,” Kinkead said. “That’s the one we are going to rest for and really work on trying to make lifetime best times and national time standards.”