The Eastern swim teams traveled to Indianapolis this past Saturday to compete in the Butler Invitational. This was the team’s first official meet of the season. 

Senior Martee Grainger competed as an anchor in the 200-medley relay and 400-freestyle relay. She also competed in the 100 freestyle. 

“I’m a sprinter; I keep it short,” Grainger said. “We had some pretty good times for this point in the season, and I think a lot of people hit some great times as well.”

Grainger went on to describe the overall atmosphere as electric. She mentioned how the team was excited and energetic as a whole and made their presence known. 

“We definitely dominated the deck,” Grainger said.

She went on to speak on the freshman class’s performance at the meet. 

“They did phenomenal,” Grainger said. “The class preformed really well, and I think it set the season off right and kind of set the tone for a pretty good year for them.”

Grainger also mentioned some big moments at the meet such as Men’s 400-free relay.

 “It was really cool to see those guys hit some times that they have been working hard to hit,” Grainger said.

Grainger expressed that she was proud of freshman swimmer Jessica Harris who posted a best time in season and placed second in the 500-free. 

 “As a freshman, to come in and hit a best time right off the bat is always encouraging, so that was pretty cool to watch,” Grainger said. 

Senior Lauren Oostman competed in the backstroke leg of the Medley Relay, the 200-backstroke and was the lead off for the 400-freestyle relay. Oostman also spoke very highly of the freshman swimmers. 

 “I knew the freshman were pretty ready going into that meet, and I didn’t think they were nervous at all ,so I think as a team we did pretty well,” Oostman said.

She went on to describe the atmosphere of the meet and how it affected the swimmers.

“It was good for a first meet, I knew it was going to be pretty tough with the competition there, but I think we gave it our all,” Oostman said. “I’m a very competitive person, so when I know it’s going to be some competitive teams there, I love it. I love being the underdog and being able to come up and scare people.”

Senior Alex Laleian competed in the 200-butterfly on Saturday and had nothing but good things to say about the meet. 

“Good meet, we came in with a lot of energy, and the freshman came in really excited as well, so it was fun to see,” Laleian said.

He went on to describe the meet as very competitive while also highlighting the freshman performances on the team. He mentioned freshman swimmer Scott House who came in first in the 10-freestyle beating St. Louis and Xavier.

“Very good starting point for the season, gave the freshman a little bit of insight on what we go up against,” Laleian said. “It’s good for them to see a college-style meet and the structure and energy they need to bring every single meet.”

Freshman Forrest Baumgartner was the anchor in the 200-Medley Relay and competed in the 50-free as well. He was able to take a third place finish in 50-freestyle overall.

“I thought the meet went pretty fantastic for it being my first college meet,” said Baumgartner. 

He went on to talk about the team’s energy and chemistry both at the meet and moving forward.

“The type of energy that before I came here I really didn’t see until we got to the championship level meets,” Baumgartner said.

He expressed that he was excited to be a part of this type of energy moving forward.

“Our coach Jacqueline did a really good job of recruiting this year. I think we have 13 or 14 freshman coming in total, and all of them lights out fast and they all put up great times this weekend, so it was a fantastic meet for everyone,” Baumgartner said.

Eric Hendrix can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]