Men's Swimming and Diving Prepped to Defend MAC Title

Men's Swimming & Diving at MAC Championships
Date	Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 22-25, 2017
Venue	Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium Carbondale, Ill.
	Event Results \| Championship Schedule
	Championship Center

CARBONDALE, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) — In pursuit of its third consecutive Mid-American Conference title, the Eastern Michigan University men's swimming and diving team travels to Carbondale, Ill. for the MAC Championships this week, March 1-4. The four-day event is hosted by Southern Illinois University, and will take place inside Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.

Eastern Michigan returns seven All-MAC selections from a season ago, but will be without the contributions of three other honorees, including the MAC's 2016 Most Outstanding Swimmer, Andrew Henry.

EMU claimed the top spot in eight events at last season's MAC Championships, including the 100 and 200 Freestyle, the 100 and 200 Backstroke, the 1 and 3-meter dives, and the 400 and 800 Freestyle Relays.

The Eagles enter championship season owning 99 top-20 marks in the MAC this season, in addition to three top-three relays.

In the freestyle sprints, the Eagles will turn to sophomore Connor Johnson (Fort Bragg, N.C.-Terry Sanford), freshman Mark Krusinski (Brecksville, Ohio-Brecksville Broadview Heights), and sophomores Jake Tyson (Ipswich, England-Northgate) and JF Murphy (Montreal, Quebec-Sainte Anne). Johnson and Krusinski are entered in the 50 Free and have succeeded in the event all season. Johnson holds the 17th-best time in the conference this season, while Krusinski has posted three top-three finishes. Meanwhile, Tyson owns the best time in the league this season in the 100 Free and looks to improve on his fifth-place finish from a year ago.

Mid-distance freestyle will see a solid mix of veterans and freshmen compete to garner points for the Eagles. In the 200 Free, Tyson leads the way with the ninth-fastest time in the conference. Murphy and freshmen Alex Arrieta (Miami, Fla.-Doral Academy Center), Matan Segal, and Eric Akins (Houston, Texas-Klein) are also slotted inside the league's top-20. The same group is slated to compete in the 500 Free, while junior Logan Burton (Chesapeake, Va.-Hickory), as well as seniors Kyle Lichtenberg (Clarkston, Mich.), Chris Cutter (Fishers, Ind.-Fishers), and Marcin Rzyski (Olsztyn, Poland-Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace #4) will also take part in the race. Arrieta turned in the fastest mark by an Eagle this season, clocking in with a time of 4:34.72 at the EMU Invite, the eighth-ranked time in the MAC. Lichtenberg's season-best time is slotted 13th, while Rzyski and Murphy are ranked 15th and 20th, respectively.

Lichtenberg, the runner-up a season ago, headlines the Eagles in the 1650 Free. Overall, EMU has five swimmers ranked inside the top-20, including Arrieta and fellow freshman Tanner Olmos (Clovis, Calif.-Buchanan).

Backstroke was one of Eastern Michigan's deepest events last season, as the Green and White placed five inside the top-eight in the 200 Back. The duo of senior Cole Bateman (Hutchinson, Minn.-Hutchinson) and sophomore Tosh Kawaguchi (Cary, N.C.-Cary) pace the group. Bateman looks to defend his sweep in the backstroke from 2016's MAC Championships, while Kawaguchi enters the meet with the top times in the conference in both events. Burton, along with Segal, Akins, Cutter, and sophomore Ricky Perez, are also expected to score for EMU.

A returning All-MAC selection, Burton will lead the way in the butterfly, after finishing runner-up a season ago. Burton owns the fourth-best time in the league, having posted a mark of 49.15 in EMU's Feb. 4 dual. Johnson and Krusinski are also ready to make an impact.

Competing in their first MAC Championship meet, freshmen Aaron Hendry (Evans, Ga.-Evans) and Matthew Tsenkov (Sofia, Bulgario-General Vladimir Stoychev), as well as redshirt sophomore Lance Bergmann (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) will be relied on heavily in the breaststroke events. All three Eagles rank inside the conference's top-20 and have showed promise throughout the season.

Bateman is the Eagles' most experienced individual medley performer, placing no lower than 10th each of the last two seasons. Kawaguchi has gained experience in the IM over the course of the season and has the ability to secure points, while several others will also have the opportunity to score in the 200 and 400 IM.

On the springboard, EMU Head Diving Coach Buck Smith has his group poised for another sensational showing. Returning nearly every diver from a squad that placed six within the top-16 on both the 1 and 3 meter, the Eagles are primed for major points. Senior Alex Chan (Toronto, Ontario-Neil McNeil Secondary), the reigning MAC Diver of the Year, highlights the group that also includes last season's MAC Freshman Diver of the Year Tom Gillis (Halifax, Nova Scotia-Citadel), junior Peter Rusenas (Naperville, Ill.-Naperville Central), sophomore Nicholas Fox (Covington, Ky.-Scott), senior Dan Gironza (New Hudson, Mich.-South Lyon), and freshman Noah Galluzzo (Mexico, N.Y.). On the 1-meter, the group accounts for six of the conference's top-14 scores. Meanwhile, on the 3-meter Chan is the only MAC diver to break the 400-point barrier this season. Gillis' season-best score comes in ranked fourth, while the other four Eagles are slotted inside the top-16.

Action from Carbondale, Ill. begins Wednesday night, March 1, with a pair of relays and continues through Saturday, March 4. Results for the four days of action can be followed using the MeetMobile app.

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Players Mentioned

Eric Akins

Alex Arrieta

Cole Bateman

Lance Bergmann

Logan Burton

Alex Chan

Chris Cutter

Nicholas Fox

Noah Galluzzo

Tom Gillis

Dan Gironza

Aaron Hendry

Andrew Henry

Connor Johnson

Tosh Kawaguchi

Mark Krusinski

Kyle Lichtenberg

JF Murphy

Tanner Olmos

Ricky Perez

Peter Rusenas

Marcin Rzyski

Matan Segal

Matthew Tsenkov

Jake Tyson

Eastern Michigan Athletics