Eagles Welcome Falcons to Jones Natatorium

Swimming and Diving vs. Bowling Green
Date	Friday, Jan. 22 \| 1 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Jones Natatorium
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMUSwimDive \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University swimming and diving team returns home to Jones Natatorium Friday, Jan. 24 for a dual meet with Mid-American Conference opponent Bowling Green State University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Livestats for the meet will be available on EMUEagles.com, as well as through MeetMobile. Links are available on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com. In addition, the action will be tweeted from the team's twitter account, @EMUSwimDive.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: Bowling Green comes to Ypsilanti after a 200-100 loss to Miami, Jan. 18. The Falcons defeated MAC rival Ohio, 174-126, Oct. 25, while also claiming victories over Marshall and Davenport in dual meets.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE FALCONS: The Eagles and Falcons will meet for the 21st time in as many seasons, Jan. 24. Eastern commands the series lead, 19-1. The two sides last met Jan. 26, 2019, at Jones Natatorium, with the Green and White coming away with the 167-122 win.

BATTLE OF THE PERKINS: Friday's matchup between the Eagles and Falcons will feature two head coaches with the surname Perkins. First-year Head Coach Derek Perkins will lead the Eagles, while second-season Head Coach Rickey Perkins will lead the Falcons.

BACKSTROKE'S BACK: Eastern Michigan seniors Casey Gavigan and Claire Young have dominated backstroke events in the last six meets. In the 11 backstroke events over six meets, the Eagles have won all of them. Gavigan has won eight of the 11 events (four 100 yard and four 200 yard), while Young has won the remaining three (two 100 yard and one 200 yard).

GET IN THE ZONE: Four Eastern Michigan divers have met the NCAA Qualifying Standard in 1-meter diving, while three of those four have also qualified in 3-meter diving. Seniors Brielle Johnston and Sophia Tsafantakis, along with junior Bethany Berger, have met the qualifying standard in both events, while junior Micaela Schempf has qualified for the 1-meter event at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships in March.

BREAKING STANDARDS: In addition to leading the MAC with her 16:27.88 mark in the 1,650 yard freestyle, junior Alyssa Shugarman became the first Eagle swimmer to meet a NCAA Standard Cut. The third-fastest time in program history earned the Oswego, Ill. native a NCAA "B" Cut.

OMAHA BOUND: Eastern Michigan senior Casey Gavigan punched her ticket to the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Neb. at the long course time trials hosted by Denison University on Dec. 4, 2019. The East Setauket, N.Y. native clocked in at 1:02.11 in the 100-meter backstroke to qualify for the 2020 trials.

EAGLES ON TOP: Before falling to Akron, Jan. 18, Eastern Michigan went on a roll since its first dual meet of the season, Oct. 26 against Miami. The Eagles went on a five-meet win streak after defeating the RedHawks, 152-148, Ball State 167-133, Nov. 2, Oakland and Florida Gulf Coast with 150.5 points, Nov. 9, capturing the title at the Denison Invitational with 2,223 points, Dec. 7, and defeating I-94 rival Wayne State, 193-49, Jan. 11.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan will honor its seniors Saturday, Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. at Jones Natatorium. The intrasquad scrimmage will celebrate the 10-member senior class along with some fun, competitive racing.
The Eagles will then head to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the Ohio State Invitational, Feb. 15-17.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bethany Berger

Casey Gavigan

Brielle Johnston

Micaela Schempf

Alyssa Shugarman

Sophia Tsafantakis

Claire Young

Eastern Michigan Athletics