Eastern Michigan Athletics
Men's Swimming & Diving Seek 4th Straight MAC Title
10/30/2009 11:36:46 AM | M. Swim & Dive
The Eagles open the 2009-10 slate tomorrow afternoon, playing host to Toledo and UW-Milwaukee
Live Scoring vs. Toledo, UW-Milwaukee
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's swimming and diving team is gunning for its fourth straight Mid-American Conference Championship and 29th overall in the program's history. The Eagles put up a school-record 1,046.5 points in a dominating win at the MAC Championships in 2009 and they carry a 53 dual meet win streak into this season.
After graduating the top swimmer in virtually every event, head swimming coach, Peter Linn, realizes that there's a lot of work to do, but he's confident that the talent and the freshmen class coming in have the ability to contribute right away and reload one of Eastern's most storied athletic programs. Continuing each streak isn't among Linn's priorities, however, making sure his team is doing the little things in getting there is.
“We never focus on that,” 2009 MAC swimming Coach of the Year, Linn, said of the streaks. “We want to focus on the things that get you there and the processes that get you there. To maintain long-term success you have to maintain the things that go you to that level.”
Linn said, “It's a commitment to personal excellence.” He wasn't referring solely to athletic accomplishments, but academic success as well. His squad finished with a 3.2 GPA in 2009, which ranked them among the nation's leaders. Captains Andrew Eckhart, Scott Murphy and Dave Stefl will do their best to instill Linn's message onto the rest of the team.
Sprints
The Eagles graduated one of its top sprinters of all-time last season in Derick Roe. “Roe was the fastest swimmer in the history of the program. It's an area where we've got to have some help from people coming in,” Linn said. He thinks sophomore Matt Zavislak, who swam to third place finishes in the 100 and 200 freestyles and helped the 200 and 400 free relay teams to first place finishes at the MAC Championships last year, shows every indication that he can replace Roe.
Distance
The junior, Stefl, who garnered Second Team All-MAC honors in 2009, is the top-returning athlete for Linn. He placed second in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle races at the MAC Championships last year. Linn also expects juniors Gilles Renard and Keith Coghlan, who came in last January, as well as freshman Kevin Kubik, to contribute.
Butterfly
After graduating Ryan Fulkerson, who was the varsity record holder in the event, the Eagles will have to look to freshmen to fill in. Jacob Hanson, Michael Kinross and Jereme Pesta are among those newcomers while junior Owen Grey is the fastest returning swimmer in the event. Grey was a finalist in the 100 and 200 butterfly and was named second team All-MAC in 2009.
Backstroke
The Eagles will have to replace Ethan Crabtree and Mark Kurtzer, but they are well on their way after Alan Duski stepped up at the MAC Championships last season to place fourth in the 100 backstroke. Freshmen Hanson, Kubik, Robert Nichols and Tyler Capen will also be in the mix to compete for spots in the event.
Breaststroke
“It's the one area where we return the top guy,” Linn said, referring to the senior, Murphy, who is the defending MAC champion in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He'll also look for some help from senior Sam Dolato, as well as the freshman class led by Matt Lifka. Returners Connor Christie, Doug Brooks will also help contribute. “These guys are a real solid group. Troy Esentan shows up everywhere as well. He's good in the butterfly, our top returning intermediate medley swimmer and our second-best breaststroker. He's also a good mid-distance freestyle swimmer,” Linn said.
Relays
“We graduated everyone,” Linn said. “We'll have to wait and see, but I think we have the potential to be better this year than last year.”
Diving
Diving graduated, Matt Guinan, who was a consistent MAC Finalist, but Head Coach Loren “Buck” Smith has three incoming freshmen to look forward to in Jeffrey Craig, Andrew Saunders and Thomas Dreher.
“We're in a good position on the guys' side,” Smith said. “We're looking forward to taking six divers to the conference meet and scoring a lot of points.”
The MAC will add three more schools to the mix in Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Evansville. They will join Buffalo, Ball State, Miami and Eastern Michigan. The Eagles will not face either of the new affilates in dual meets this season, but those new additions will make the 2010 MAC Championships enormously more competitive.
“I'm excited because it's going to be very competitive,” Linn said of the new-look Mid-American Conference. “In the last 20 years it's really been Miami and us vying for the championship and now you're looking at a situation with four, maybe five teams, looking to win it.”
EMU will boast a “home court” advantage, so to speak, as they host the MAC Championships at the Jones Natatorium March 4-7. They'll kick off the 2009-10 campaign tomorrow afternoon by taking on Toledo and UW-Milwaukee in the Jones Natatorium at 1 p.m.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's swimming and diving team is gunning for its fourth straight Mid-American Conference Championship and 29th overall in the program's history. The Eagles put up a school-record 1,046.5 points in a dominating win at the MAC Championships in 2009 and they carry a 53 dual meet win streak into this season.
After graduating the top swimmer in virtually every event, head swimming coach, Peter Linn, realizes that there's a lot of work to do, but he's confident that the talent and the freshmen class coming in have the ability to contribute right away and reload one of Eastern's most storied athletic programs. Continuing each streak isn't among Linn's priorities, however, making sure his team is doing the little things in getting there is.
“We never focus on that,” 2009 MAC swimming Coach of the Year, Linn, said of the streaks. “We want to focus on the things that get you there and the processes that get you there. To maintain long-term success you have to maintain the things that go you to that level.”
Linn said, “It's a commitment to personal excellence.” He wasn't referring solely to athletic accomplishments, but academic success as well. His squad finished with a 3.2 GPA in 2009, which ranked them among the nation's leaders. Captains Andrew Eckhart, Scott Murphy and Dave Stefl will do their best to instill Linn's message onto the rest of the team.
Sprints
The Eagles graduated one of its top sprinters of all-time last season in Derick Roe. “Roe was the fastest swimmer in the history of the program. It's an area where we've got to have some help from people coming in,” Linn said. He thinks sophomore Matt Zavislak, who swam to third place finishes in the 100 and 200 freestyles and helped the 200 and 400 free relay teams to first place finishes at the MAC Championships last year, shows every indication that he can replace Roe.
Distance
The junior, Stefl, who garnered Second Team All-MAC honors in 2009, is the top-returning athlete for Linn. He placed second in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle races at the MAC Championships last year. Linn also expects juniors Gilles Renard and Keith Coghlan, who came in last January, as well as freshman Kevin Kubik, to contribute.
Butterfly
After graduating Ryan Fulkerson, who was the varsity record holder in the event, the Eagles will have to look to freshmen to fill in. Jacob Hanson, Michael Kinross and Jereme Pesta are among those newcomers while junior Owen Grey is the fastest returning swimmer in the event. Grey was a finalist in the 100 and 200 butterfly and was named second team All-MAC in 2009.
Backstroke
The Eagles will have to replace Ethan Crabtree and Mark Kurtzer, but they are well on their way after Alan Duski stepped up at the MAC Championships last season to place fourth in the 100 backstroke. Freshmen Hanson, Kubik, Robert Nichols and Tyler Capen will also be in the mix to compete for spots in the event.
Breaststroke
“It's the one area where we return the top guy,” Linn said, referring to the senior, Murphy, who is the defending MAC champion in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He'll also look for some help from senior Sam Dolato, as well as the freshman class led by Matt Lifka. Returners Connor Christie, Doug Brooks will also help contribute. “These guys are a real solid group. Troy Esentan shows up everywhere as well. He's good in the butterfly, our top returning intermediate medley swimmer and our second-best breaststroker. He's also a good mid-distance freestyle swimmer,” Linn said.
Relays
“We graduated everyone,” Linn said. “We'll have to wait and see, but I think we have the potential to be better this year than last year.”
Diving
Diving graduated, Matt Guinan, who was a consistent MAC Finalist, but Head Coach Loren “Buck” Smith has three incoming freshmen to look forward to in Jeffrey Craig, Andrew Saunders and Thomas Dreher.
“We're in a good position on the guys' side,” Smith said. “We're looking forward to taking six divers to the conference meet and scoring a lot of points.”
The MAC will add three more schools to the mix in Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Evansville. They will join Buffalo, Ball State, Miami and Eastern Michigan. The Eagles will not face either of the new affilates in dual meets this season, but those new additions will make the 2010 MAC Championships enormously more competitive.
“I'm excited because it's going to be very competitive,” Linn said of the new-look Mid-American Conference. “In the last 20 years it's really been Miami and us vying for the championship and now you're looking at a situation with four, maybe five teams, looking to win it.”
EMU will boast a “home court” advantage, so to speak, as they host the MAC Championships at the Jones Natatorium March 4-7. They'll kick off the 2009-10 campaign tomorrow afternoon by taking on Toledo and UW-Milwaukee in the Jones Natatorium at 1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan Head Coach Peter Linn
Monday, June 04
Day 3 Recap: 2016 Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Saturday, March 12
2016 Men's Swimming & Diving Champions: Eastern Michigan
Saturday, March 12
Day 1 Recap: 2016 Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
Saturday, March 12