This past weekend, the Saint Louis University Swimming and Diving team returned home to host Western Illinois at the Simon Recreation Center. The team, showing no signs of rust from the winter break, eased past a tough Western Illinois squad in both the men’s and women’s fields.
The men, led by Brad Byars and Josh Stephens, won by a score of 172-123 while the women, paced by Elena Ramirez, Emily Oberjohn and Kelly Tessar, won by a score of 179-100.
Easing the return to competition, the Billikens spent a portion of their winter break training in Florida. While several members of the team noted the physical effects of the intense winter break training, each also understood that the camp was necessary in maintaining the continuity of the season. Junior Steve Sash admitted, “We were a little exhausted after a grueling winter training program, but to come out of the winter break and get a win like this makes all of the hard work worth it.”
The women performed at an exceptional level by winning all but three of the meet’s events. Once again, freshman sensation Ramirez stole the show by placing first in the 200 butterfly (2:04:50), the 200 backstroke (2:15:14), and 100 butterfly (57:31). Her performance in the meet gave Ramirez her fourth Atlantic Ten Rookie of the Week selection of the season. Senior Tessar also turned in an excellent performance, winning the 100 breaststroke (1:06:92), the 200 breaststroke (2:25:10), and the 200 IM (2:12:86).
The women also received a contribution from junior Emily Oberjohn, who placed first in the 200 freestyle (1:58.04) and 500 freestyle (5:14.74). Senior Alice Altepeter’s first-place time in the 100 freestyle (54.94) and junior Erin Lasinski’s clean sweep of the one meter (253.65) and three-meter (270.70) diving competitions helped round out the top individual performers on the women’s side.
The women also came together as a team, stealing both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. Both the 200 medley relay team of Ramirez, Tessar, Brianna Motley and Jenny Lutzen (1:51:36) while the 200 freestyle relay team of Alice Altepeter, Maggie Norton, Oberjohn, and Lutzen (1:41:64) paced the field and took first place. The women’s squad continued their overall dominance in dual meets by stretching their win streak to 28 consecutive matches. They improved their record to 10-0 on the year.
The men’s team used great individual performances from sophomores Tim Adams and Brad Byars as well as freshman Kevin Parker to outpace a tough Leatherneck squad. Parker took first place in three individual events, winning the 200 butterfly (1:59:18), the 200 backstroke (1:59:16), and the 100 butterfly (54:83). Adams claimed two first-place individual finishes, winning the 100 breaststroke (1:01:20) as well as the 200 breaststroke (2:16:41). Byars, not to be outdone, powered his way to a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle (48:47). Byars, who was impressed by the team’s performance said, “The team really came together before the match and that carried over into a big victory for both the men’s and women’s squads.”
The men established a balanced effort with a variety of other individual winners. Junior Josh Stephens took a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke (54:82). The Billikens also received a first-place performance in the 200 IM from sophomore Chad Niemeier (2:03:47). Finally, two of the relays came up big by winning both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The young 200 medley relay team of Parker, Adams, Stephens and Byars shot past their opponents by taking the win (1:40:04).
The 200 freestyle relay team of Niemeier, Adam Trafton, Christopher Johansen and Sash also outpaced the field, finishing in 1:29:78. By winning the meet, the men improved their record on the season to 7-3.
After a successful homestand, the two squads will hit the road as they head to Indianapolis to swim in the Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis Triangular on Jan. 20 where they will compete with IUPUI and South Dakota State. The squad will continue its busy weekend the next day with a home meet against rival Evansville at 1 p.m. in the Simon Recreation Center.
