Emmetsburg, IA – The Lakers hosted Morningside University (NAIA) on Nov 5th and the Laker Men energized the home crowd as they went on to win 9 out of 11 events earning the Men's program their first Dual Meet win in 8 years.

Morningside University made the drive up to Emmetsburg to compete against the Lakers in a short-format dual meet. The Smith Wellness Center saw its first non-virtual home meet of the season, and the Laker swimmers did not disappoint as Morningside contested them in every event, leading to one of the most exciting home meets the Lakers have seen. The Morningside Women went on to sweep the women's side winning all 11 events with a final score of 560, while the Laker Women earned 92. The Men's team battled Morningside every step of the way, picking up wins in 9 out of 11 events, and defeating Morningside's Men 627 to 489, earning the Men's team their first Dual Meet Win since they defeated Simpson College in 2014.

Women's Highlights:

• Sophomore Allison Graff led the Laker women with two different 3rd place finishes – she raced her way to 3rd in the 200 free (2:23.56) and 3rd in the 100 back (1:13.25). Graff also worked her way to a 4th place finish in the 200 IM (2:44.74).
• Freshman Rylee Valentine picked up her first top 3 finish in her college career by grabbing a 3rd place finish in the 50 free (30.99) lower her Personal Best time. And raced her way to 4th in the 100 freestyle in another Personal Best time of (1:09.32)

Men's Highlights:

• Rhys Cheer opened the meet, electrifying the crowd and shocking the pool in a come-from-behind win in the 1,000 freestyle (11:04.36), chasing down and out touching Morningside by 0.56 seconds! He was followed by teammates Andres Santana and Eduardo Sarmiento who placed 3rd and 4th in the event.
• Eduardo Martiniano lowered his own school record in the 50 back leading off the 4 x 50 Medley A relay in a time of 24.41. The A Relay (Martiniano, Santana, Rojas, Maivusoaroko) went on to win the event in a time of 1:38.72, and the B Relay (Voller, Sarmiento, Cheer, Graff) fought off Morningside's B Relay for a 3rd place finish.
• Martiniano followed up the opening relay performance by picking up a 1st place finish in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:45.83.
• Patrick Voller picked up his 1st college career win in the 100 free, where he earned the top spot in a time of 48.74, followed closely by teammate Troy Maivusoaroko who finished 2nd in a time of 49.23. Maivusoaroko went on to highlight the splash and dash, 50 free, by earning another 2nd place finish in a time of 22.51, narrowly missing the 1st place mark.
• Marcelo Rojas raced his way to three different 1st place finishes. He earned the top spot in the 200IM (1:58.33) followed by teammate Andres Santana who finished 2nd (2:08.20). Rojas had back-to-back wins as he immediately came back and placed 1st in the 100 Fly (53.16) followed by teammate Rhys Cheer (3rd with 57.85). Rojas rounded up his 1st place finishes by showing his versatility in the 500 free, winning the event in 5:00.39, followed again by teammate Rhys Cheer who raced his way to 3rd in the event (5:32.94)
• The Laker men showed their dominance in the 100 breaststroke by going 1-2-3 in the event. Andres Santana took the 1st place spot with a 1:00.31, followed by Erik Graff in 2nd with a 1:02.96, and Eduardo Sarmiento in 3rd with a 1:03.53.

Up Next:

The Lakers head over to Sioux City where they will compete in the Morningside University Invitational on Nov 11 and 12th.