Swimming Opens New Year Against Eastern Illinois
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa men's and women's swimming teams will host Eastern Illinois University on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Men's Matchup: No. 14 University of Tampa Spartans vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers
Women's Matchup: No. 8 University of Tampa Spartans vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers
Date/Time: Saturday, January 4 at 10:00 a.m.
Location: UT Aquatics Center || 507 UT University Drive || Tampa, FL 33606
Last Time Out: The Spartans concluded their fall season at the four-day Spartan Invite where the men were first of eight teams while the women were second among nine competing teams at the Long Center in Clearwater.
About the Spartans: Tampa's men enjoyed a stellar fall season with wins over No. 16 Florida Southern, Rollins and No. 9 Nova Southeastern in addition to the Spartan Invite first-place effort. The Spartan women also had wins over Florida Southern and Rollins. Brett Saunders led the way as Tampa took first-place at the fifth-annual Spartan Invite and was recognized as the Sunshine State Conference Swimmer of the Week. The Newark, Delaware product set a school record in the 200 Breast with a second-place time of 1:58.39. Saunders then brought home gold in the 200 Back with a time of 1:45.36. He also finished in third place in the 100 Breast at 55.02. Saunders' times in the 200 Breast, 200 Back and 100 Breast are all NCAA "B" cuts. Elizaveta Bazarova was Tampa's top swimmer at the 2019 Spartan Invite and also named the SSC Swimmer of the Week, helping her squad to a second-place finish behind Wingate University. The Russian had three first-place finishes, plus a silver medalist effort during the four-day event. Bazarova's best performance of the week came on day three with a win in the 100 Breast. Her time of 1:02.00 goes down as a new school-record time and satisfies the NCAA provisional mark. Bazarova registered wins and NCAA "B" cuts in the 50 Free (23.13) and the 200 Free (1:49.65). The sophomore from Neznamovo, Russia rounded out the invite with a second-place finish in the 100 Free (50.22).
About the Panthers: EIU's men are 1-3 in dual meets, defeating Valparaiso and falling to Evansville, Saint Louis and Ball State. Scott House stayed undefeated on the season as he won the 100-free with a time of 47.59 and the 200-free with a time of 1:43.82 against BSU. The Panthers are 1-4 on the women's side with the same results as the men while also losing at Indiana State on December 7. Rachel Manderscheid led the way for Eastern Illinois in the 200-breast, placing second with a time of 2:35.29. Mia Fries was right behind her in third with a time of 2:36.97.
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