The Saint Louis University swim teams took on all comers last Saturday, Feb. 1 at the IUPUI Natatorium and almost came away undefeated.
The Billiken men came out on top, 79.00 to 31.00 against Butler University and 58.00 to 53.00 against Xavier University. The women fared equally well against Butler, 66.50 to 43.50, but fell to Xavier University 47.00 to 64.00.
In the men’s bracket, freshman John Stoneburner finished first in seven events, scoring the most possible points for SLU in the 200-meter individual medley, 500-meter freestyle, and 200-meter breaststroke.
Stoneburner, along with teammate Kelly Teaser, broke their personal best by two seconds in the 400-meter individual medley Saturday.
“I was very impressed by both Kelly and John’s performances in the 400 IM … John is a tough competitor and wins in nearly everything,” coach Jim Halliburton said.
Steve Webb took first place in the 1650-meter freestyle in what Halliburton called “the most exciting swim of the day.” Webb trailed Xavier swimmer Matthew Normile by two seconds until the final two laps of the event. He passed Normile in closing seconds and touched .13 seconds ahead for first.
All other first-place finishes came from the women’s events. Senior Kristi Cottral took first in both the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions.
Sophomore Megan Capellupo took first in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:08.06, and freshman Alice Altepeter took first in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 56.66.
Second-place finishes from SLU swimmers included Maggie Norton in the 200-meter freestyle, Christopher Johansen in the 200 free, Chris Clement in 50-meter freestyle, Lindsay Tokotte in the 100-meter butterfly, Clement in the 100 free, John Stoneburner in the 100-meter backstroke, and Kelly Tessar in the 100 backstroke.
In diving, second-place finishes included Jenny Hurst in both three- and one-meter diving, Jenny Hurst in one meter diving, and Bobby Wolf in both three- and one-meter diving
At this time last year, both the men’s and women’s records were 0-9, compared to this year’s men’s 11-4 record and the women’s 13-4.
“The difference (between last year and this year) lies in recruiting. We brought in a very strong recruiting class this year,” Halliburton said.
The Billikens have one remaining meet against Eastern Illinois on Feb. 8. When the two teams met earlier this year, SLU won by 50 points on the men’s side and 14 on the women’s side.
