Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, November 30
Granville, Ohio
All Day
Eastern Michigan University
at
Denison Invitational
Swim & Dive Readies for First Invite of 2023-24 Season
11/27/2023 4:53:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
The meet will last three days, Nov. 30-Dec. 2, with preliminary action beginning at 10 a.m. each day
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University swim and dive team will look to build upon its win over the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies, Nov. 16, as it is slated to compete in its first invitational of the 2023-24 season when the Eagles head to Granville, Ohio, for the Denison Invitational, hosted by Denison University at the Trumbull Aquatic Center, Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
Meet Information
The Eagles will face five other institutions over the three-day meet, with teams from Denison, Emory University, Emory & Henry College, the University of Indianapolis, and Washington University-St. Louis set to compete.
Preliminary rounds will start at 10 a.m. each day with the finals set to begin at 6 p.m.
Fans can follow along with the action via live stats and a broadcast stream. The live stats page can be accessed here while the stream can be found here.
Last Time Out
The Eagles captured their first victory of the 2023-24 season, besting Oakland, 155-145, inside the Oakland University Natatorium, Nov. 16.
Eastern earned its first event win in the 1,000-yard freestyle with Ali Kudo (Guelph, Ontario/John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute) finishing first in a season-best 10:23.13, followed by Morgan Hofmeister (Powell, Ohio/Liberty) in third, whom also swam her fastest time of the season, finishing in 10:38.90.
Per-usual for the 2023-24 campaign, EMU again secured the 100 backstroke as the Green and White filled the one, two, and three spots with Kiersten Russell (Clinton, Mich./Saline) finishing first in 56.31, Siporah Sang (London, Ontario/Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School) in second in 57.20, and Marlee Christie (Seminole, Fla./Seminole) in third in 57.63. Russell and Christie's times go down as their fastest of the season.
The Eagles tabbed consecutive event wins as they also secured the 100 breaststroke via Taylor Harris (Tiffin, Ohio/Calvert/Bowling Green) securing first in 1:05.84 with Nina LaRosa (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) following in fourth in 1:07.52 and Madelyn Sursi (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) in fifth in 1:07.77.
EMU collected a victory in the three-meter dive as well. Rebekah Knapp (Mesa, Ariz./Skyline) led the Eastern divers in the event, scoring a personal-best 293.63 points, with Camryn Hughes (London, Ontario/Sir Frederick Banting Secondary) taking second, tabbing 275.85. Keira Veltigian (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) slotted in third scoring 275.03.
Eastern would next triumph in the 200 backstroke as Russell took first once more, this time in 2:02.77, edging out a season-fastest time by 0.3. Russell was trailed by Sang, who placed fourth in 2:08.11. The Eagles would then win the 200 breaststroke with Abby Szadorski (Oswego, Ill./Oswego East) placing first in 2:21.38 and Harris in second in 2:24.01.
Meanwhile, the divers repeated with another win in the one meter dive as Savannah Fisk (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) earned her first win in the event while scoring a personal-best 270.38 points. Fisk was supported by Hughes and Knapp, who placed third and fourth, respectively.
The 200 freestyle relay decided the meet, with Eastern's A team of Christie, Katie Shoen (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy), Lucy Noble (Flagler Beach, Fla./Flagler Palm Coast), and Russell sitting atop the standings, collectively swimming the distance in 1:33.94, shattering their previous fastest-time of the season by over two seconds (1:35.96 at Ball State University, Nov. 4).
Last Time at the Denison Invitational
The Eagles had a strong showing at last season's rendition of the Denison Invitational, Dec. 1-3, finishing third out of six teams behind four event wins on the third and final day of competition. Russell won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.05. Former Eagle Isabel Harri took home the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:16.39, while Olivia Clarino (Toronto, Ontario-Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute) won the 200-yard fly with a mark of 2:04.47. Veltigian added Eastern's lone diving win on the third day, placing first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 296.50 points.
Overall, Eastern fairs well at the Denison under Head Swimming Coach Derek Perkins. Since his arrival in Ypsilanti prior to the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Eastern Michigan has placed no worse than third at the invite, including a second-place finish in the 2021-22 campaign (1,929 points) and a victory in his first season with the Eagles as the team posted 2,223 points over the three-day event.
Up Next
The Denison Invitational marks the last meet for the Eagles' fall slate. The Green and White will next be in the pool Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, at 5 p.m., as they are set to travel to Akron, Ohio, for a meet against the University of Akron Zips.
Meet Information
The Eagles will face five other institutions over the three-day meet, with teams from Denison, Emory University, Emory & Henry College, the University of Indianapolis, and Washington University-St. Louis set to compete.
Preliminary rounds will start at 10 a.m. each day with the finals set to begin at 6 p.m.
Fans can follow along with the action via live stats and a broadcast stream. The live stats page can be accessed here while the stream can be found here.
Last Time Out
The Eagles captured their first victory of the 2023-24 season, besting Oakland, 155-145, inside the Oakland University Natatorium, Nov. 16.
Eastern earned its first event win in the 1,000-yard freestyle with Ali Kudo (Guelph, Ontario/John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute) finishing first in a season-best 10:23.13, followed by Morgan Hofmeister (Powell, Ohio/Liberty) in third, whom also swam her fastest time of the season, finishing in 10:38.90.
Per-usual for the 2023-24 campaign, EMU again secured the 100 backstroke as the Green and White filled the one, two, and three spots with Kiersten Russell (Clinton, Mich./Saline) finishing first in 56.31, Siporah Sang (London, Ontario/Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School) in second in 57.20, and Marlee Christie (Seminole, Fla./Seminole) in third in 57.63. Russell and Christie's times go down as their fastest of the season.
The Eagles tabbed consecutive event wins as they also secured the 100 breaststroke via Taylor Harris (Tiffin, Ohio/Calvert/Bowling Green) securing first in 1:05.84 with Nina LaRosa (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) following in fourth in 1:07.52 and Madelyn Sursi (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) in fifth in 1:07.77.
EMU collected a victory in the three-meter dive as well. Rebekah Knapp (Mesa, Ariz./Skyline) led the Eastern divers in the event, scoring a personal-best 293.63 points, with Camryn Hughes (London, Ontario/Sir Frederick Banting Secondary) taking second, tabbing 275.85. Keira Veltigian (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) slotted in third scoring 275.03.
Eastern would next triumph in the 200 backstroke as Russell took first once more, this time in 2:02.77, edging out a season-fastest time by 0.3. Russell was trailed by Sang, who placed fourth in 2:08.11. The Eagles would then win the 200 breaststroke with Abby Szadorski (Oswego, Ill./Oswego East) placing first in 2:21.38 and Harris in second in 2:24.01.
Meanwhile, the divers repeated with another win in the one meter dive as Savannah Fisk (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) earned her first win in the event while scoring a personal-best 270.38 points. Fisk was supported by Hughes and Knapp, who placed third and fourth, respectively.
The 200 freestyle relay decided the meet, with Eastern's A team of Christie, Katie Shoen (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy), Lucy Noble (Flagler Beach, Fla./Flagler Palm Coast), and Russell sitting atop the standings, collectively swimming the distance in 1:33.94, shattering their previous fastest-time of the season by over two seconds (1:35.96 at Ball State University, Nov. 4).
Last Time at the Denison Invitational
The Eagles had a strong showing at last season's rendition of the Denison Invitational, Dec. 1-3, finishing third out of six teams behind four event wins on the third and final day of competition. Russell won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.05. Former Eagle Isabel Harri took home the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:16.39, while Olivia Clarino (Toronto, Ontario-Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute) won the 200-yard fly with a mark of 2:04.47. Veltigian added Eastern's lone diving win on the third day, placing first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 296.50 points.
Overall, Eastern fairs well at the Denison under Head Swimming Coach Derek Perkins. Since his arrival in Ypsilanti prior to the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Eastern Michigan has placed no worse than third at the invite, including a second-place finish in the 2021-22 campaign (1,929 points) and a victory in his first season with the Eagles as the team posted 2,223 points over the three-day event.
Up Next
The Denison Invitational marks the last meet for the Eagles' fall slate. The Green and White will next be in the pool Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, at 5 p.m., as they are set to travel to Akron, Ohio, for a meet against the University of Akron Zips.
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