Eastern Michigan Athletics
Wednesday, October 11
Ypsilanti, Mich.
3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Northwestern
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Men's Swimming and Diving Opens Season Against Northwestern
10/9/2017 2:27:00 PM | M. Swim & Dive
The Eagles square off against the Wildcats at home, Wednesday, Oct. 11
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Coming off the 34th Mid-American Conference championship in program history, the Eastern Michigan University men's swimming and diving team opens the 2017-18 season Wednesday, Oct. 11, against Northwestern University at Jones Natatorium.
Returning for his 29th season at the helm, Head Coach Peter Linn and the Eagles aim for their 23rd MAC Championship under his direction. Linn's 2017-18 squad will be led by seniors Logan Burton (Chesapeake, Va.-Hickory), Connor Johnson (Fort Bragg, N.C.-Terry Sanford), Josh Kreider (Coopersburg, Pa.-Southern Lehigh), Peter Rusenas (Naperville, Ill.-Naperville Central), and redshirt senior Lance Bergmann (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community).
SPRINTS - MIDDLE DISTANCE FREESTYLE
Returning from a solid freshman campaign, sophomore Mark Krusinski (Brecksville, Ohio-Brecksville Broadview Heights), looks to rack up points for the Eagles in sprints. Krusinkski posted a 12th place finish at the MAC Championship in the 50 free with a career-best time of 20.73. Johnson could also emerge as a consistent point scorer for the Eagles in the event. Eastern adds three freshmen, Carter Swift (Shepparton, Victoria, Australia), Alec Hoch (Orchard Park, N.Y.-Orchard Park), and Andrew Torres (Muncie, Ind.-Delta), who should all be major point earners for the Green and White. Previously, Swift was a member of the New Zealand Olympic prospective team. Hoch, a four-year varsity letterwinner, was named Most Valuable Player two years in a row while being ranked fourth in the state in the 50 free as a senior.
In the 100 and 200 free, EMU returns juniors Jake Tyson (Ipswich, England-Northgate), JF Murphy (Montreal, Quebec-Sainte-Anne), and sophomore Matan Segal (Lehavim, Israel-Hof HaSharon). Tyson posted top-five finishes in each event during the conference championship meet, and holds the second and seventh top times in EMU's history in the 200 and 100 free, respectively. Segal posted two career-best times in the 50 and 100 free with times of 22.16 and 45.49, respectively. Tyson and Krusinki, who also notched a 10th-place finish at the MAC Championship in the 100 free, will be heavily relied on, in addition to Segal, in the mid-distance.
DISTANCE
With the loss of Kyle Lichtenberg, Chris Cutter, and Marcin Rzyski, the Eagles are going to depend on sophomore Tanner Olmos (Clovis, Calif.-Buchanan) and the contributions of the newcomers in the mile. Coming off a successful first season, Olmos notched an eighth place finish at the championship meet, touching in with a career-best time of 15:49.28.
In the 500, sophomore Alex Arrieta (Miami, Fla.-Doral Academy Center) will be looked to by his teammates to bring in the points for EMU. In his freshman season, the Second Team All-MAC honoree turned in 12 top-five finishes in eight meets and had three top-10 finishes at the MAC Championship. With a career-best time of 4:28.39, Arrieta finished sixth in the 500 free at the championship meet. Sophomore Parker Saladin (Buchanan, Mich.-Buchanan), Bergmann and Murphy, along with incoming freshmen, will have the opportunity to score points for the Eagles.
BUTTERFLY
The Green and White returns a pair of point scorers in the form of Burton and Johnson. The duo had outstanding showings at the conference championships last season. Burton, who posted the fastest 100 fly time in program history during prelim, finished the championships with a pair of top-three places. Alongside Burton in the 200, Arrieta's sixth place finish at the MAC Championships has put him on the radar for the event, while Krusinski, Saladin, and junior Ricky Perez (Greenfield, Wis.-Greenfield) look to make impact as well. Also adding depth to the fly is freshman Chris O'Shea (Miller Place, N.Y.-Rocky Points) who earned All-American accolades in his senior season.
BACKSTROKE
Despite the loss of Second Team All-MAC selection, Cole Bateman, the Eagles return four swimmers in the back event. Returning in the 200 back are MAC Champion sophomore Tosh Kawaguchi (Cary, N.C.-Cary) are Burton, Perez, and Segal, with O'Shea joining the squad. Kawaguchi garnered All-MAC First Team honors after being named to the All-MAC Second Team as a freshman. In the 200 back, Kawaguchi, Bateman, and Segal posted a 1,2,3 sweep with Perez touching in seventh. The Eagles posted nine top-10 finishes in the 100 and 200 back. Collectively, the group holds nine of the fastest times in EMU history in the backstroke events.
BREASTSTROKE
Coming back from a solid freshman year is Aaron Hendry (Evans, Ga.-Evans). After posting a pair of top-eight performances at the MAC Championships, Hendry will be looked to as a consistent point scorer. Returning after a year off is senior Kyle Aerne (Lake Villa, Ill.-Lakes Community) who looks to bring extra depth to the event after posting a pair of top finishes in the 100 and 200 breast against Miami (Feb. 4). Bergmann and sophomore Matthew Tsenkov (Sofia, Bulgaria-General Vladimir Stoychev) could become leaders in the breaststroke for the Green and White. With addition of freshmen Ben Gingher (Boalsburg, Pa.-State College Area) and Ben Brooks (Avon, Ohio-Avon), the Eagles are primed for an outstanding season in the breaststroke. Gingher, who earned All-American honors in the 100 breast, was a Junior National Qualifier and district champion in the 100 breast. Brooks placed second in the 100 breast at states and was named to the All-Ohio second team.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Several Eagles will have the opportunity to contribute in the individual medley to replace the loss of Lichtenberg and Hunter Cook. Touching in with the fourth-fastest 200 IM time in the MAC, Tyson could emerge as an IM leader for the Green and White. Also competing in IM, Kawguchi, Perez, Segal, and Hendry can put EMU in a position to consistently score points this season. Brooks looks to earn points for the Eagles after placing third in the 200 IM at states.
RELAYS
Eastern finished the MAC Championships with five top-five finishes in the relays. After placing second in the 800 free relay, EMU looks to improve this season and bring home a championship. With the loss of Bateman in the relays, Eastern has several swimmers with meet experience: Kawaguchi, Hendry, Johnson, Murphy, Arrieta, Burton, Krusinski, Tyson, Bermann, and Segal.
DIVING
The EMU diving team will have to fill the void of three-time MAC Diver of the Year and six-time MAC Champion, Alex Chan. After losing the reigning 1- and 3-meter MAC Champion to graduation, Head Diving Coach Buck Smith is relying on his four returners and the newcomers to continue the excellence of the diving program. Junior Thomas Gillis (Halifax, Nova Scotia-Citadel) and Rusenas both finished the championships with a pair of top-eight dives in both the 1- and 3-meter. Sophomore Noah Galluzzo (Mexico, N.Y.) looks to build off a successful 2016-17 season where he finished sixth in the 3-meter dive at the championship meet.
"This early, it's hard to give you a great preview on the NW meet," Linn said about the upcoming meet. "This has traditionally been a fun rivalry meet but this early it's really an opportunity for both teams to see where they are in early training, evaluate the new athletes , and to see where they are and what they have to accomplish in training before they get into conference play."
This is the seventh consecutive season that the Eagles have opened up their season against the Wildcats. The Green and White holds a 2-4 record against Northwestern since the first meet in the 2011-12 season, after falling to NU, 167-128, last year to kick off the 2016-17 season. In that meet, Kawaguchi led Eastern with a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 and 200 back, while Burton and Perez also snagged up top finishes in the 100 fly and 200 IM, respectively.
Action between Eastern and Northwestern will begin at 3 p.m at Jones Natatorium.
Returning for his 29th season at the helm, Head Coach Peter Linn and the Eagles aim for their 23rd MAC Championship under his direction. Linn's 2017-18 squad will be led by seniors Logan Burton (Chesapeake, Va.-Hickory), Connor Johnson (Fort Bragg, N.C.-Terry Sanford), Josh Kreider (Coopersburg, Pa.-Southern Lehigh), Peter Rusenas (Naperville, Ill.-Naperville Central), and redshirt senior Lance Bergmann (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community).
SPRINTS - MIDDLE DISTANCE FREESTYLE
Returning from a solid freshman campaign, sophomore Mark Krusinski (Brecksville, Ohio-Brecksville Broadview Heights), looks to rack up points for the Eagles in sprints. Krusinkski posted a 12th place finish at the MAC Championship in the 50 free with a career-best time of 20.73. Johnson could also emerge as a consistent point scorer for the Eagles in the event. Eastern adds three freshmen, Carter Swift (Shepparton, Victoria, Australia), Alec Hoch (Orchard Park, N.Y.-Orchard Park), and Andrew Torres (Muncie, Ind.-Delta), who should all be major point earners for the Green and White. Previously, Swift was a member of the New Zealand Olympic prospective team. Hoch, a four-year varsity letterwinner, was named Most Valuable Player two years in a row while being ranked fourth in the state in the 50 free as a senior.
In the 100 and 200 free, EMU returns juniors Jake Tyson (Ipswich, England-Northgate), JF Murphy (Montreal, Quebec-Sainte-Anne), and sophomore Matan Segal (Lehavim, Israel-Hof HaSharon). Tyson posted top-five finishes in each event during the conference championship meet, and holds the second and seventh top times in EMU's history in the 200 and 100 free, respectively. Segal posted two career-best times in the 50 and 100 free with times of 22.16 and 45.49, respectively. Tyson and Krusinki, who also notched a 10th-place finish at the MAC Championship in the 100 free, will be heavily relied on, in addition to Segal, in the mid-distance.
DISTANCE
With the loss of Kyle Lichtenberg, Chris Cutter, and Marcin Rzyski, the Eagles are going to depend on sophomore Tanner Olmos (Clovis, Calif.-Buchanan) and the contributions of the newcomers in the mile. Coming off a successful first season, Olmos notched an eighth place finish at the championship meet, touching in with a career-best time of 15:49.28.
In the 500, sophomore Alex Arrieta (Miami, Fla.-Doral Academy Center) will be looked to by his teammates to bring in the points for EMU. In his freshman season, the Second Team All-MAC honoree turned in 12 top-five finishes in eight meets and had three top-10 finishes at the MAC Championship. With a career-best time of 4:28.39, Arrieta finished sixth in the 500 free at the championship meet. Sophomore Parker Saladin (Buchanan, Mich.-Buchanan), Bergmann and Murphy, along with incoming freshmen, will have the opportunity to score points for the Eagles.
BUTTERFLY
The Green and White returns a pair of point scorers in the form of Burton and Johnson. The duo had outstanding showings at the conference championships last season. Burton, who posted the fastest 100 fly time in program history during prelim, finished the championships with a pair of top-three places. Alongside Burton in the 200, Arrieta's sixth place finish at the MAC Championships has put him on the radar for the event, while Krusinski, Saladin, and junior Ricky Perez (Greenfield, Wis.-Greenfield) look to make impact as well. Also adding depth to the fly is freshman Chris O'Shea (Miller Place, N.Y.-Rocky Points) who earned All-American accolades in his senior season.
BACKSTROKE
Despite the loss of Second Team All-MAC selection, Cole Bateman, the Eagles return four swimmers in the back event. Returning in the 200 back are MAC Champion sophomore Tosh Kawaguchi (Cary, N.C.-Cary) are Burton, Perez, and Segal, with O'Shea joining the squad. Kawaguchi garnered All-MAC First Team honors after being named to the All-MAC Second Team as a freshman. In the 200 back, Kawaguchi, Bateman, and Segal posted a 1,2,3 sweep with Perez touching in seventh. The Eagles posted nine top-10 finishes in the 100 and 200 back. Collectively, the group holds nine of the fastest times in EMU history in the backstroke events.
BREASTSTROKE
Coming back from a solid freshman year is Aaron Hendry (Evans, Ga.-Evans). After posting a pair of top-eight performances at the MAC Championships, Hendry will be looked to as a consistent point scorer. Returning after a year off is senior Kyle Aerne (Lake Villa, Ill.-Lakes Community) who looks to bring extra depth to the event after posting a pair of top finishes in the 100 and 200 breast against Miami (Feb. 4). Bergmann and sophomore Matthew Tsenkov (Sofia, Bulgaria-General Vladimir Stoychev) could become leaders in the breaststroke for the Green and White. With addition of freshmen Ben Gingher (Boalsburg, Pa.-State College Area) and Ben Brooks (Avon, Ohio-Avon), the Eagles are primed for an outstanding season in the breaststroke. Gingher, who earned All-American honors in the 100 breast, was a Junior National Qualifier and district champion in the 100 breast. Brooks placed second in the 100 breast at states and was named to the All-Ohio second team.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Several Eagles will have the opportunity to contribute in the individual medley to replace the loss of Lichtenberg and Hunter Cook. Touching in with the fourth-fastest 200 IM time in the MAC, Tyson could emerge as an IM leader for the Green and White. Also competing in IM, Kawguchi, Perez, Segal, and Hendry can put EMU in a position to consistently score points this season. Brooks looks to earn points for the Eagles after placing third in the 200 IM at states.
RELAYS
Eastern finished the MAC Championships with five top-five finishes in the relays. After placing second in the 800 free relay, EMU looks to improve this season and bring home a championship. With the loss of Bateman in the relays, Eastern has several swimmers with meet experience: Kawaguchi, Hendry, Johnson, Murphy, Arrieta, Burton, Krusinski, Tyson, Bermann, and Segal.
DIVING
The EMU diving team will have to fill the void of three-time MAC Diver of the Year and six-time MAC Champion, Alex Chan. After losing the reigning 1- and 3-meter MAC Champion to graduation, Head Diving Coach Buck Smith is relying on his four returners and the newcomers to continue the excellence of the diving program. Junior Thomas Gillis (Halifax, Nova Scotia-Citadel) and Rusenas both finished the championships with a pair of top-eight dives in both the 1- and 3-meter. Sophomore Noah Galluzzo (Mexico, N.Y.) looks to build off a successful 2016-17 season where he finished sixth in the 3-meter dive at the championship meet.
"This early, it's hard to give you a great preview on the NW meet," Linn said about the upcoming meet. "This has traditionally been a fun rivalry meet but this early it's really an opportunity for both teams to see where they are in early training, evaluate the new athletes , and to see where they are and what they have to accomplish in training before they get into conference play."
This is the seventh consecutive season that the Eagles have opened up their season against the Wildcats. The Green and White holds a 2-4 record against Northwestern since the first meet in the 2011-12 season, after falling to NU, 167-128, last year to kick off the 2016-17 season. In that meet, Kawaguchi led Eastern with a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 and 200 back, while Burton and Perez also snagged up top finishes in the 100 fly and 200 IM, respectively.
Action between Eastern and Northwestern will begin at 3 p.m at Jones Natatorium.
Players Mentioned
Breast/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free/Fly
/ M. Swim & Dive
Back/Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Breast/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Breast/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Fly
/ M. Swim & Dive
Diving
/ M. Swim & Dive
IM/Breast/Fly
/ M. Swim & Dive
Back/Free/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Diving
/ M. Swim & Dive
Breast
/ M. Swim & Dive
Breast
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Fly/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Back/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Fly/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Back/Fly
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Back/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Diving
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free/Fly
/ M. Swim & Dive
Fly/IM
/ M. Swim & Dive
Back/Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Free
/ M. Swim & Dive
Breast
/ M. Swim & Dive
Fly
/ M. Swim & DiveEastern 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
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Day 1 Recap: 2016 Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
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