Just one meet after senior standout Megan Capellupo qualified for the NCAA tournament, two Billiken divers turned in qualifying performances of their own this past weekend for the swimming and diving team.
The swimming and diving team traveled to Lindenwood’s St. Peters Rec Plex to participate in a four-team meet.
Divers Bobby Wolf and Erin Lasinski were key elements in leading the men’s and women’s sides, respectively, last weekend. The men notched three wins after beating Lindenwood 88-33, Lincoln College 76-43 and Illinois tech 77-42. The three wins boosted the men’s record to 10-5.
The women picked up three victories of their own, but in incredibly convincing fashion. They beat host Lindenwood 96-24, Lincoln College 100-16, and Illinois Tech 80-32 to improve their record to 15-0. The women look to finish their season undefeated for the first time in school history.The Billiken women took no prisoners in earning victories in 10 out of the 14 events. The Billiken women turned to their stalwart captain to get them started.
Capellupo earned two victories for the women in the 100 fly and the 100 breaststroke. The women then proceeded to win four events in a row, starting with sophomore Katie Kotowski, who won the 200 freestyle.
Next up, sophomore Emily Oberjohn sprinted to a win in the 50 freestyle, and junior Kelly Tessar won the 200 Individual Medley. Then came a win on the one-meter board for Lasinski. Sophomores Jenny Valentino and Lauren Yates won the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle, respectively.
On the flip side, the men won half of their 14 events on the way to their sweep at Lindenwood. Junior captain Chris Johansen picked up two of those seven wins in the 200 and 1000 freestyle.
Senior Ryan Poss came through with a convincing win in the 100 backstroke.
Two freshmen were essential for the Billikens, as well, posting wins in two events. Chad Niemeier and Brad Byars won the 200 Individual Medley and 100 freestyle respectively.
Wolf picked up wins on both heights, the one-meter and three-meter boards. He posted impressive scores of 321.00 and 332.30 on those heights, respectively.
“For me, this has been a goal of mine for four years, and I am glad that I accomplished it,” said Wolf.
“As far as the men’s team as a whole, it is a really good step for us. It will earn more interest for SLU swimming in the future,” Wolf concluded.
Lasinski posted a score of 256.30 in her win on the one-meter and 274.00 on the three-meter board. Even though she came in second in the three-meter, her score was still good enough to qualify her for the NCAA zone tournament.
“This really gets our team to a bigger level of competition…Saint Louis is not really a well-known swimming and diving team. But, along with Megan, really gives the entire team confidence,” said Lasinski.
“Personally, it is a huge accomplishment as only a sophomore. I have noticed a huge improvement in my scores from last year, which will help me going into Conference,” she added.
s mentioned, a sweep this weekend would leave the women’s team undefeated.
The women’s team hopes to use the momentum of an undefeated season as a motivation for a strong showing at the Conference USA Invitational. “I think we have a very good chance to finish the season undefeated,” said sophomore standout Meredith Grass.
“If we swim up to our capabilities, and how we have been swimming lately, especially against Evansville, we feel that going undefeated will be inspiration to do extremely well at Conference championships. Especially because Conference is a very rigorous meet,” Grass said.
This weekend the Billikens will be on the road Saturday and Sunday. Saturday both teams will travel to Charleston, Ill., to face-off against Eastern Illinois. On Sunday they will take part in a three-way meet with Butler and Valparaiso in Indianapolis.
The swimming and diving team will then begin to train for the Conference USA championships in Houston, on Feb., 23 where they hope to continue their success.
