The Eastern men’s and women’s swim teams showed little rust in their first dual meet in nearly three weeks as both squads defeated Butler University Saturday at Lantz Natatorium.

Behind strong performances from freshmen Tyson Beaman and Bill Senese, the Panthers made short work of the Bulldogs with a 117-86 victory.

Against Saint Louis on Nov. 20, Beaman was victorious in the 100-yard breaststroke and the Texan went the distance in the 200-yard breaststroke against Butler for his second career win. With a time of 2:18.03, Beaman was more than three seconds faster than his closest competitor.

Not only were Beaman’s first-place points important for the Panthers last weekend, but, as Panthers head coach Ray Padovan noted, so is his versatility. Beaman can swim in a plethora of events and has come on fast the past two meets.

“Tyson is an important person because he can fill a need for our team,” Padovan said. “We have two other swimmers in the breaststroke, but Tyson is the best and we expected him to be the best coming into the season.”

Senese picked up his 12th individual win on the season with a time of 1:46.29 in the 200-yard free. Normally competing in the shorter 50-yard free, Padovan switched the events for his talented freshman and the move paid off for the Panthers.

“We wanted to try some people in different events,” Padovan said. “It’s not very often that Senese will swim the 200-yard for us except during the 800-yard free relay at the end of the season in the Midwest Classic Championships. This meet was a good opportunity to use him in the 200-yard swim.”

The men also received first-place finishes from senior Rich Wahlgren in the 50-yard free (21.88), junior Eric Petersen in the 100-yard free (49.39) and freshman diver Dave Trabilsy who won the one-meter diving event.

Eastern (5-2) has now won four dual meets in a row and Padovan said the confidence on the team is increasing with each win.

“They’re happy with what they accomplished this season even in the two losses and especially in the Louisville loss,” Padovan said. “This is a much better team then what we had at this point last year.”

The women broke out of their two meet funk and improved to 2-5 overall with a 123-91 victory over the Bulldogs.

Sophomore Jenny Curry won for the fifth time in the last three meets to pace the Panthers. Curry took home the top spot in the 50-free (25.82) and the 100-free (55.81) last Saturday after winning the 50-free against Saint Louis and both events versus Evansville on Nov. 15.

Despite the recent wins, Padovan said Curry is still looking for more.

“Jenny is getting frustrated with her performance,” Padovan said. “She swam better last year, but she will come out of it and rest always helps things.”

Senior Jordan Sherbrooke added another win to her impressive Easter career with an impressive time of 1:59.70 in the 200-yard free. The Avon, Ind., native was over two seconds quicker than second-place finisher Catie Scott (2:02.08) of Butler.

The Eastern women won the first five events of the meet to open up a commanding lead. Juniors Rachel Willenborg and Lindsae Blades along with sophomore Meghan Glow and freshman Brittany Wininger all added victories in the rout.

Padovan was able to get switch up some of his swimmers in different events and the teams competed in the 400-yard individual medley (won by Eastern’s Claire Garvey) which is used normally in championship meets only.

Despite the win, Padovan wasn’t ready to admit the women have put their early season troubles behind them, but for the first meet since the Thanksgiving break he was pleased.

“We still have some people who need to improve because we’re usually better than this,” Padovan said. “We didn’t shake off all the rust from over the break, but it was a solid meet.