Saint Louis University swimming and diving is making itself known around the country in its last season in Conference USA. The men and the women both cracked the top 15 of the national mid-major rankings last week. While it is not the national top 25, the rankings are still impressive for SLU, which has been working to rebuild its program. The mid-major classification belongs to teams whose universities do not enjoy the luxuries of major television contracts and large revenue from basketball or football.
The women are ranked 11th in the country with a 10-0 record after defeating University of Illinois at Chicago, while the men took the 15th spot after a loss to UIC dropped them to 5-5. The win for the women gave them a springboard as they headed for Notre Dame yesterday. The men will have to let the loss linger, as the UIC meet was their last of the fall semester; they will not be competing at Notre Dame.
The women got off to a fast start against the Flames and held on for a decisive 134-105 victory. Senior Megan Capellupo, juniors Alice Altepeter and Kelly Tessar and sophomore Jenny Valentino got the Bills off on the right foot, winning the 400-medley relay with a time of 4:02.57. "It feels great to win the first race because it gets the rest of the team pumped up and ready to swim fast," said Altepeter about the 400.
Captains Tessar and Capellupo lead the way for the Billikens again, as they both took home two first-place honors in individual events. Capellupo took home first in the 200 backstroke and the 200 freestyle, with times of 2:09.15 and 1:57.47 respectively. Tessar showed dominance over her opponents by winning the 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley with times of 2:24.01 and 2:20.81, respectively. The second-place finishers were at least seven seconds behind Tessar, who raced through the pool.
Tessar said the team is enjoying their success, but feeding off of one another for drive and inspiration.
Diver Erin Lasinksi posted a score of 212.40 on the meter board to win first. Sophomore Emily Oberjohn won the 500 freestyle in 5:15.65. Sophomore Meredith Grass took home a first for the Bills in the mile race, finishing in 18:25.46. "I was pleased with how I swam the race, I didn't take it out too fast but hung with the other girl. In the end I swam the smarter race and was able to pass her," said Grass about her enduring mile race.
Sophomore BJ Brungardt got the Billiken men going early on with his win in the mile race. Freshman Brad Byars added two second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle, and the 500 freestyle, to keep the men in it early. Senior diver Bobby Wolf took home first for the Bills in the one-meter board, but it was all not enough for the Billikens to put out the Flames. The Flames were burning up the pool, finishing first and second in two consecutive races. Freshman Tim Adams finished the individual events on a high note for the Bills by winning the 200 breaststroke.
Despite the loss, and sitting on the fence at the .500 mark, the Billiken men have not lost hope for the remainder of the season. Their fall season has concluded, but they will pick up in the spring with their first meet against Western Illinois at SLU for Senior Day.
"We have a good solid month to or so of training plus training trip to look forward to. We will be in great shape for the rest of our season," said sophomore Steve Sash. "We know what we need to do these next few weeks to get it together for the last few meets and Conference. I am predicting great swims from all of the men for the rest of the season. The team keeps growing in strength, and you can see that if you are in the mix of it all. It will be interesting to see how well we can actually do."
The Conference USA championships will be held in Houston from Feb. 23-26.
The women are currently on the road, wrapping up their fall season at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The Billiken women will look to make a dent among a myriad of top schools from around the country. The men are not on the current road trip due to disciplinary actions taken by the coaching staff.
