Butler Swimming (via BU website)
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Eastern Illinois men's and women's swimming squads return to the water this weekend, traveling to the Hoosier state to battle various squads at the Butler Invitational. The Sunday (Jan. 24) event begins at 11 am (CST), and will held at the brand new Fishers High School natatorium, located just outside of Indianapolis.
Teams competing include EIU, Ball State and Valparaiso on the men's side; and EIU, Ball State, Butler, Valparaiso, and Youngstown State for the women. The meet will be scored like a round-robin dual, with the Panthers competing against each school in an individual dual meet format.
Originally scheduled to be held at Fishers High School outside of Indianapolis, Ind., the meet has been moved to the new, 10-lane, 50-Meter facility that features movable bulkheads and a separate diving area.
“We'll be competing at a very nice facility and expect some good competition all around,” said second year head coach Matt Bos. “Unfortunately, since we no longer sport a diving unit, we'll automatically be handicapped in the team points that the other schools will score in those events.”
“Ball State is by far the strongest team competing,” Bos said. “We have already faced BSU earlier this season, dropping both sides of the dual meet, however, we did not compete very well in that meet, so I hope that all our hard training will pay off this weekend.
"With less than a month until our conference championship, everything from this point on will be used in preparation for that end-of-season event," he said. "This weekend will give us a good indication of what we may need to continue to work on individually and in preparation for finalizing our Summit League lineup.”
BSU hosted EIU last December, downing the Panther men and women, 169.5-112.5 and 172-102, respectively. But since that loss, both Eastern units have have won consecutive meets. Victories include home dominating performances over instate foes Western Illinois and Millikin, which helped move the EIU men and women to 4-2 and 3-3 overall, respectively.
Prior to a couple of duals on Friday/Saturday, the BSU Cardinal men enjoy a 4-2 dual meet mark, while the women are 6-4. Meanwhile, heading into the weekend, both Valparaiso squads are 0-6, the Youngstown State women are 0-5, while an overall Butler record is currently unavailable.
Following the weekend action, the Panthers next host Summit League rival IUPUI next Saturday (Jan. 30), with first splash scheduled for noon at Ray Padovan Pool. The meet has been designated 'Paint the Pool Pink' day, which will feature a fund-raiser to assist the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
For more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
