Weekend Program (PDF)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Following six-weeks of training and competition down in Florida and Mississippi over winter break, both the EIU men's and women's swimming squads return to the pool this weekend, hosting instate rivals Western Illinois and Millikin on Friday and Saturday afternoons, respectively.
Friday's first splash versus the Leathernecks is set for 4 pm, while the matchup with the Big Blue begins at 1 pm on Saturday, with both meets being held in EIU's Ray Padovan Pool.
The meet with Western was originally scheduled for last November 7, but was rescheduled for this coming weekend.
The Panther men currently sport a 2-2 dual mark while the EIU women are 1-3. The Leathernecks, also members of the Summit League alongside Eastern, come to Charleston with a 1-5 men's and 1-6 women's record. Millikin, meanwhile, sit at 0-4 for both the men's and women's units.
“We finished up a good training period over break,” said second year head coach Matt Bos, “in fact it was probably the best training trip I've been a part of as a group. Every single person got a huge benefit from the training and competition, plus we competed very well in Mississippi recently.
Bos said the goal this past week has been to get the swimmers back into normal training mode. “The next few weeks may be our last chance to make any really big gains, so we have got to be prepared. After-all, our conference championship is only five weeks away.”
“This is a big meet obviously, especially against our biggest rival, Western Illinois,” said Bos. “At the same time we are still trying to get some people prepared for the league meet, especially on the men's side. So I plan on putting some guys into events that we'll need them to do well in at conference. Obviously we want to win the meet but at same time get ourselves lined up for conference.”
Last season, the Panther men dropped a close 150-143 meet to WIU over in Macomb, while the EIU women lost as well, 187-110. However, the Panther men's team finished ahead of the Leathernecks at the end-of-season Summit League meet, while the WIU women finished ahead of the Eastern women at the conference finale.
“Both WIU squads have gone through three third coaches the past three years,” Bos said. “So they have gone through some changes and continue to improve each year while also being competitive in meets. They are definitely a team that has probably overachieved this year with the current swimmers they have. I expect them to come in and give us a really good meet, as they always do.”
“The meet with Milliken, meanwhile, will give us a second straight day of competition, while also allowing many people to swim a lot of different events on Saturday,” said Bos. “Plus we get the added benefit of experiencing back-to-back competition, which will be important at the Summit League meet.”
Bos says both Panther squads are healthy entering the weekend action. “We have a few bumps, bruises and soreness naturally,” he said. “But for the most part we are healthy and everyone is feeling good. We are definitely in good shape going into the last few weeks of the season.”
Following this weekend, both squads hit the road for a triangular meet over in Fishers, Ind. on Sun., January 24, competing against both Valparaiso, while also enjoying a rematch with Ball State.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
