The Eastern men’s and women’s swim teams did not win this weekend but had many swimmers post personal bests and have top three finishes against Evansville.

The women lost 164-114 and the men lost 188-99.

One of the swimmers for the woman who posted an in-season best time was senior Beth Houghton in the women’s 1000-yard freestyle.

Coach Jacqueline Michalski called the last two minutes of the race one of the loudest points of the meet.

“There was a solid race between Beth Houghton and Kelcie Davie of (Evansville),” Michalski said. “Beth swam the race extremely smart, resulting in an in season best time and a third place finish in that event.”

Houghton finished with a time of 11:27.49.

Senior Kelsey Ferguson also had a season-best time in the women’s 200-yard individual medley. Ferguson finished the race in first place with a time of 2:15.54.

“I was really happy with the 200 IM race,” Ferguson said. “I actually had come off of the 200 breaststroke frustrated with how I was feeling because my body was tired and I couldn’t get up.”

She said that Houghton and sophomore Dani DiMatteo got her back in it and finish the meet strong.

Michalski also said that the men and women swimmers in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly were strong events for the Panthers.

Seniors Joann Wakefield and Kelsey Ferguson finished 1-2 in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke. Wakefield finished with a time of 1:09.24 and Ferguson 1:10.36.

Ferguson also finished in second in the 200-yard breaststroke.

But ‘the race of the meet’ came from freshmen Alex Laleian and Gerald Stingle and sophomore Patrick Wood who finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 200-yard butterfly.

Laleian had a time of 2:03.14, Stingle finished six seconds behind him at 2:09.98, and Wood was right behind him coming in at 2:10.43.

The women also had a win in the 200-yard butterfly as Paige Eavenson touched the wall first. It was the first time Eavenson swam that event this season.

Eavenson came in with a time of 2:16.77.

“The 200 fly is by no means an event to swim, but all of our 200 fliers made it look effortless,” Michalski said.

Another race where the women and men both found themselves in the top three was the first event of the night in the 200-yard medley.

The relay team of freshman Martee Grainger, Wakefield, Dimatteo, and senior Kaylee Morris took second place with a time of 1:52.42, just over a second behind the Evansville team.

Morris also swam in the 50-yard freestyle and won with a time of 24.94 seconds. She also won the women’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.78 seconds.

The men also took second place in the event with the relay team of junior Brogan O’Doherty, sophomore Brandon Robbins, sophomore Stephen Truchon and junior Shane Witzki posted a time of 1:37.81.

They also had the relay team of sophomore Steve Fishman, Laleian, Wood and sophomore Jennings Soccorso-McCoy finish in third with a time of 1:40.66.

The men and women will be back in the pool next weekend when they host Valparaiso in Padovan Pool Nov. 7.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].