Men's Swimming and Diving Claims 32nd MAC Championship in Program History

Complete Results

GENEVA, Ohio (EMUEagles.com)—Eastern Michigan University's men's swimming and diving team came from behind on the final day of the 2015 Mid-American Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, winning the 32^nd MAC title in program history and the 22nd of Head Coach Peter Linn's tenure with 777.5 points. Trailing Eastern were Missouri State (757.5), Buffalo (517), Southern Illinois (515), Miami (507), Evansville (146), and Ball State (127).

"It was a great four days," said Eastern Michigan Head Coach Peter Linn. "We didn't have a lot of stars but everybody contributed and everybody stepped up. We hung tough all day."

Eastern had at least one new addition to the EMU top all-time performance lists in every one of the day's individual swimming events. Starting with the 1650, Kyle Lichtenberg (Clarkston, Mich.-Homeschool) continued to shine in the distance freestyle races, claiming runner-up in 15:19.78. His mark is not only an NCAA consideration mark, but it is the third-fastest mark in EMU laurels. Sean Tento (Seattle, Wash.-O'Dea) and Franco Petrone (Etobicoke, Ontario-Silverthorne Collegiate Institute) also placed in the top-eight, finishing fifth and eighth in 15:35.91 and 15:46.52, respectively, while Marcin Rzyski (Olsztyn, Poland-Ogolnoksztalcace Liceum #4) set a personal record of 15:55.74 for 11th.

In the 200 back, Cole Bateman (Hutchinson, Minn.-Hutchinson) earned the top seed into the finals, but finished second overall in a season-best 1:45.30 as he retains his spot as second on Eastern's all-time list. Logan Burton (Chesapeake, Va.-Hickory) just missed out on a medal finish, placing fourth in 1:47.78, while his preliminary mark of 1:47.64 goes down as the fifth-fastest time in program history.

Another runner-up finish followed in the 100 free, with Brian Moore (Anthem, Ariz.-Boulder Creek) making school history as the only swimmer to go below the 44-second mark twice in his career. Moore competed in the closest race of the meet, finishing second behind Miami's Joe Baumgartner by a mere one-hundredth of a second in 43.74 seconds. However, his fastest time came in the prelims when he set the EMU and MAC record in 43.40 seconds, becoming the first Eagle to swim a sub-44-second 100. Andrew Henry (Garner, N.C.-West Johnston) also set a personal record of 44.27 seconds in the prelims, keeping his spot as the fourth-fastest swimmer in the event, and went on to finish fifth in 44.51 seconds.

Eastern finally crowned its first MAC champion in the 200 breast, with Mike Fisher (Saline, Mich.-Saline) earning his third straight title in the event in a MAC and EMU record of 1:54.97. Not only has Fisher won the title in back-to-back-to-back meets, but it is the ninth consecutive 200 breast title that EMU has won. Chris Hodges (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) swam alongside Fisher to finish eighth in 2:00.70, but his prelims time of 2:00.12 puts the junior in the fourth spot on EMU's all-time list for the event. In the consolation final, Kyle Aerne (Lake Villa, Ill.-Lakes Community) set a personal record of 2:00.30 to finish 10^th overall, marking the seventh-fastest swim in program laurels.

The Eagles saw three swimmers in the championship final for the 200 fly, paced by Rzyski in a career record of 1:48.40, the fourth-fastest time on EMU's performance list. Finishing just behind Rzyski in fifth place was Liam McKane (Sarasota, Fla.-Suncoast Polytechnical) in 1:49.25 for the ninth-best mark in the event by an EMU swimmer. Krzysztof Gilski (Dywity, Poland-Adam Mickiewicz Secondary) rounded out the trio with an eighth-place finish in 1:50.57. Representing the Green and White in the consolation final was Hunter Cook (Hilliard, Ohio-Hilliard Darby), placing 14^th overall in 1:50.57.

With the conclusion of the 200 fly, Eastern trailed by just 25 points with the championship finals of the 3-meter dive and the 400 free relay remaining in the meet. Alex Chan (Toronto, Ontario-Neil McNeil Catholic) repeated his championship title in the 3-meter dive with 409.95 points, while Dan Gironza (South Lyon, Mich.-South Lyon) took the bronze with 396.35 points. Also finishing in the top-eight of the championship final were Sage Stephens (Warren, Ill.-Warren) and Peter Rusenas (Naperville, Ill.-Naperville Central) with 297.25 and 292.05 points, respectively. With the strong performance from the divers, Eastern was able to take the lead over Missouri State going into the final event of the day with a 30-point edge.

"Winning this Championship was really great because we have actually had a really hard year and it was a great way to finish it off," Linn added.

The Eagles capped off the meet with Henry, Gissen, Bateman, and Moore finishing fourth in 2:58.60 to secure the Green and White's 32^nd MAC Championship in EMU history. Following the meet, Burton, Chan Fisher, Henry, and Moore were named to the All-MAC First Team while Bateman, Gissen, Lichtenberg, and Rzyski earned Second Team honors. Buck Smith was named the Diving Coach of the Year, his sixth award while coaching the men's team.

Final Team Scores
1. Eastern Michigan 777.5
2. Missouri State 757.5
3. Buffalo 517
4. Southern Illinois 515
5. Miami 507
6. Evansville 146
7. Ball State 127

Diving Coach of the Year: Buck Smith, EMU
Most Outstanding Senior: Paul Le, Missouri State
Most Outstanding Swimmer: Till Pallmann, Southern Illinois
Most Outstanding Diver: Kegan Skelton, Southern Illinois
Coach of the Year: Rick Walker, Southern Illinois

All-MAC First Team
Till Pallmann, SIU
Uvis Kalnins, MSU
Joe Baumgartner, Miami
Isaac Springer, MSU
Paul Le, MSU
Miguel Davila, MSU
Mike Fisher, EMU
Lucas Aquino, SIU
Kegan Skelton, SIU
Alexander Chan, EMU
Brian Moore, EMU
Andrew Henry, EMU
Kacper Cwiek, MSU
Logan Burton, EMU

All-MAC Second Team
Scott Huang, Buffalo
Michael Wolfe, SIU
Cole Bateman, EMU
Kyle Lichtenberg, EMU
Ethan Bresette, MSU
Oliver Patrouch, Buffalo
Antonio, Lanzi, Buffalo
Matt Wilson, MSU
Davis Staley, Miami
Joe Morris, BSU
Brandon Weissman, MSU
Andre Luiz Brilhante, SIU
Vitalii Baryshok, MSU
Erik Gissen, EMU
Marcin Rzyski, EMU
Garrett Nevels, MSU

EMU Individual Results (* signifies a personal best; B is an NCAA consideration mark; M is a MAC record, # is an EMU record)

1650-yard Freestyle
2. Licthenberg, Kyle	15:19.78*B
5. Tento, Sean	15:35.91*
8. Petrone, Franco	15:46.52
11. Rzyski, Marcin	15:55.74*

200-yard Backstroke
2. Bateman, Cole	1:45.30B	1:46.04
4. Burton, Logan	1:47.78	1:47.64*

100-yard Freestyle
2. Moore, Brian	43.74B	43.40*#MB
5. Henry, Andrew	44.51	44.27*B

200-yard Breaststroke
1. Fisher, Mike	1:54.97*#MB	1:57.25
8. Hodges, Chris	2:00.70	2:00.12*
10. Aerne, Kyle	2:00.30*	2:00.57

200-yard Butterfly
4. Rzyski, Marcin	1:48.40*	1:49.28
5. McKane, Liam	1:49.25*	1:49.74
8. Gilski, Krzysztof	1:50.57	1:47.39B
14. Cook, Hunter	1:51.67	1:50.78*
26. Johnson, Connor		1:55.28

3-meter Diving
1. Chan, Alex	409.95	416.25*
3. Gironza, Dan	396.35*	363.70
7. Stephens, Sage	297.25	331.30
8. Rusenas, Peter	292.05	327.95

400-yard Freestyle Relay
4. Henry, Gissen, Bateman, Moore	2:58.60

Men's Swimming and Diving Claims 32nd MAC Championship in Program History

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kyle Aerne

Cole Bateman

Logan Burton

Alex Chan

Hunter Cook

Mike Fisher

Krzysztof Gilski

Dan Gironza

Erik Gissen

Andrew Henry

Chris Hodges

Kyle Lichtenberg

Liam McKane

Brian Moore

Franco Petrone

Peter Rusenas

Marcin Rzyski

Sage Stephens

Sean Tento

Eastern Michigan Athletics